Scottish Conservatives slam SNP over cladding delays

The Scottish Conservatives blast the SNP for failing to remove dangerous cladding from buildings in Scotland.

The SNP recently announced a £10 million fund to assess cladding on buildings, with funding available regardless of whether the property is privately owned or social housing. An extension of this scheme is also planned to support mitigation and remediation work.

However, despite Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) passing the Housing Cladding Remediation Bill in May last year to speed up the process, progress has been slow.

Still trapped in Groundhog Day

Critics point out that the UK government provided SNP Ministers nearly £100 million four years ago to fix unsafe buildings.

In response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report in the Scottish Parliament this week, Housing Minister Paul McLennan was unable to clarify what the £100 million had been spent on.

Mr McLennan also failed to give a timeline on when the remediation work will be completed and simply said the SNP’s plan for a £10 million fund to assess cladding will “accelerate the pace of works.”

Scottish Conservative shadow housing secretary Meghan Gallacher MSP told Property118: “It’s eight years since the Grenfell tragedy and yet we’re still trapped in Groundhog Day due to the SNP Government’s abject failure to remove dangerous cladding from properties in Scotland.

“Despite receiving nearly £100 million from the UK Government to fix the problem, work has only begun on five of 107 affected properties and Paul McLennan clearly has no clue when that work will be completed.”

She adds: “Scotland is miles behind the rest of the UK on this issue. Families stuck in dangerous homes because of the SNP’s inaction deserve answers on why this is, and why so little of the money provided by Westminster has been spent.

“With most Grenfell Inquiry recommendations falling under devolved powers, the SNP can’t keep passing the buck.

“This latest statement is a slap in the face. People don’t need warm words, they need to know when this potentially-deadly cladding will finally be removed from their homes.”

A worrying time for owners who have cladding in their homes

Mr McLennan claims the new £10 million fund will help accelerate cladding assessments and remediation efforts across Scotland.

He said: “The fire at Grenfell Tower which resulted in the deaths of 72 people was a tragedy that should never have been able to happen.

“For owners who have cladding in their homes, this has been a worrying time which is why we have launched this new fund to speed up the process of assessing and replacing unsafe cladding.

“Of the 58 recommendations in the Inquiry’s second report, 43 relate to areas devolved to Scotland and we are continuing to collaborate with other parts of the UK on building and fire safety matters.”

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