The Scottish Government has published plans to intensify the rate of cladding remediation in Scotland, with an acknowledgment that the pace so far has been too slow. The plan of action, which was published on 25 March, establishes a "Single Open Call" process which allows owners of certain residential properties in Scotland, regardless of tenure type, to apply (from now) for government funding to have their properties assessed using Single Building Assessments (SBAs).
SBAs were brought in by the Scottish Government in March 2021, as part of its initial pilot cladding remediation programme. An SBA is completed by an Assessor to identify the fire safety risks of a particular building and any remediation required to move a building to low risk. An SBA is the first step towards any required remediation of a building and applies to buildings which are:
- A flatted building
- Contains at least one flat that is used, or intended to be used, as a dwelling
- Has an external wall cladding system
- Stands 11 metres or more above the ground, and
- Has been constructed, or otherwise undergone development, at any time within the period beginning with 1 June 1992 and ending with 1 June 2022
This is the type of residential property to which the Single Open Call scheme will apply.
SBAs were given a statutory footing, along with other initiatives, by the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (the Cladding Remediation Act) which came into force in January this year. Important to note, the Cladding Remediation Act is part of Scotland's legislative response to Grenfell. The Building Safety Act 2022 only has limited application north of the border, and provisions including those relating to the enhanced regulatory regime for Higher Risk Buildings do not apply. The Cladding Remediation Act provides Scotland's framework to address the risk to human life created by a building's cladding system. It deals with historic cladding issues only and does not bring in changes to the laws and regulations on the design and construction of residential buildings in Scotland.
The Single Open Call will support up to £10m of building assessment in Scotland; is open to individual private owners, local authorities and registered social landlords of the type of residential property outlined above; and is intended to complement the existing developer led and government led processes, e.g. the Scottish Government's powers to arrange an SBA under the Cladding Remediation Act.
In circumstances where a developer has accepted responsibility for the assessment and remediation of a property, it will remain with that developer to take forward and fund that work.
By the end of June this year, the Scottish Government intends to extend the Single Open Call to cover funding mitigation and/or remediation works identified as being required following assessment. It will consider which applications should be funded and in what order and, again, developers who have accepted responsibility will carry out and fund that work.
Where lack of collective agreement acts as a bar to work being taken forward, the Scottish Government may consider engaging their powers available to it under the Cladding Remediation Act.
Developer Remediation Contract
The Scottish Government has also confirmed that it is finalising with larger developers a Developer Remediation Contract, akin to that in place in England and Wales, in respect of which negotiations have been ongoing since September 2024. Again, it flags the importance of this initiative in accelerating progress of the remediation of cladding in Scotland.
Summary
Whilst not as far down the road as England, Scotland has been progressing its response to Grenfell. The Scottish Government has however faced criticism in some quarters that its response on the ground is not as quick as it ought to be. That, and the publication within the last few weeks of the UK Government's Response to the Grenfell Inquiry's Phase 2 Report (published in September 2024), has put pressure on the Scottish Government to expedite its actions, as evidenced by this week's announcement.
On the face of it, the Single Open Call scheme is a useful addition to fire-safety initiatives which are already being rolled out in Scotland. It remains to be seen how effective it will be in facilitating the risk assessment of residential high-rise buildings, which may then in turn lead to remediation measures being taken.
The momentum can be expected to continue in the coming months as we await further word on finalisation of the Developer Remediation Contract; secondary legislation to establish a Responsible Developers Scheme (which will be similar to the Responsible Actors Scheme in England); and the introduction of a Scottish Building Safety Levy (to mirror the scheme in England).
