Seòmar agus comataidhean

Officials meet almost weekly, so I will bring in Stephen Garvin and Rachel Sunderland in a second on the technical discussions.

Mr Griffin mentioned the Welsh Government loan scheme. We are looking at that as well. Coming back to the point on legislation, we have talked about the UK Government’s responsible actors scheme, and we are looking at the potential applicability of that in Scotland. Those are two key things.

I mentioned the interministerial group that met a couple of weeks ago—I think that it was on 10 May. I am seeking separate meetings with the UK Government and the Welsh Government to talk in more detail about what they do. The interministerial group meeting was a short one. It was useful, but I need longer discussions about what they do. It is a UK issue, and we need to look at how closely we can work with the UK and Welsh Governments on that matter.

Rachel and Stephen can comment on the discussions that they have been having. From a political point of view, it is about working closely with those Governments, and looking at the two schemes that I mentioned and at their applicability. There needs to be a UK-based requirement or settlement. It is up for discussion and to be further advanced politically.

We will come back to you to agree the best way for us to keep the committee updated on that.

We will discuss with the UK and Welsh Governments what their approach is, how they undertake it and how they engage. Individual discussions on the subject are on-going. For example, we have had discussions with the Wheatley Group about the buildings that it is developing to ensure that they meet the standards.

We have talked about our engagement with Homes for Scotland on what its responsibility is and what the Scottish Government’s responsibility is. It is about looking into where the responsibility lies. Does it lie with Government or with the developers? Individual discussions are on-going with major stakeholders, but I will raise the matter with UK and Welsh Government colleagues.

As Stephen Garvin said, there is a duty of care in the sector. We are encouraging stakeholders to come forward if there are discussions to be had about how we can work with them on that.

We have recognised that in the department, Mr Briggs. On the broader resources that will be required, however, we will be sitting down with Homes for Scotland as well as UK and Welsh Government officials.

A strategic board was set up for housing to 2040, and the present Deputy First Minister chaired the first meeting, in March. Going forward, I will chair that group. We do not have a date for the next meeting as yet, but we plan for it to be before the summer recess. At the moment, we are setting out the strategic objectives. Those issues have not been discussed, but some of what has been raised at committee will be discussed by the strategic board. Stakeholders will feed into that as well, and I imagine that they will raise the issue. We hope to report some progress on that to the committee and the Parliament. We have had only one meeting so far and the next strategic meeting will be in June. There will probably be progress on the strategic objectives by that time, and the housing to 2040 strategic board will look at them. There are plans to get that in the diary for before the summer recess.

Yes—we can report back to the committee on that.

There are three issues on that. I mentioned what CIH said. One issue is where investment goes for repairs. We also talked about where investment goes towards the affordable housing supply programme, and we talked about the retrofitting agenda, which is incredibly important. There are two or three key points in my head in that regard.

We talked about repairs, and it is important to get a greater understanding of the issues, particularly regarding damp and mould.

On the affordable housing supply programme, we need to talk to as many local authorities as possible, because each local authority might have a different perspective. It was informative for me to speak to City of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council and to learn about where their balance sits in the housing mix. That included retrofitting. I am also keen to go out and speak to the rural authorities, to discover whether they have a different outlook and perspective on the matter and how we can advance an affordable housing supply programme on a larger scale in rural areas.

Where does that fit in with retrofitting? Local authorities have to produce their local heat and energy efficiency strategies—LHEES—by the end of this year. Those will set out what each local authority requires for retrofitting across the private sector, the public sector and RSLs. That will be informative.

The Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee has had discussions about what local authorities need to do in order to deliver that programme. The recommendations that it made were probably more for the Minister for Energy but are relevant for me in deciding what we need to do to support the programme. That is an important factor as well.

The question is how we finance the programme. The Scottish Government is putting £1.8 billion towards it in this session of Parliament. Last week, I met officials from the four home nations and the issue was discussed—no country has the funds to develop and support that programme over the necessary period of time. A green finance and reporting group reports to Mr Harvie on how we finance the programme. There are also discussions with the private sector about how it can move towards the retrofitting agenda.

There is quite a mix, and we are making progress. The heat in buildings strategy is being developed through Mr Harvie. We need to understand where the mix is in each local authority, but it is a matter of considering repair standards, retrofitting and the affordable housing supply programme. The question is how, within the available finance packet, we can get the balance right in each local authority and across Scotland.

One of the key things—I do not think that we have referred to it—is the energy efficiency standard for social housing 2—EESSH2. At the moment, it comes back to the local authorities and the LHEES, which is incredibly important. Let us take my local authority area, East Lothian, for example. There is a lot of rural housing there, so how do we ensure that there are systems that do not exacerbate damp and mould? Through the LHEES, we will ask what technology is relevant for each place. It might be the same for all tenements in Glasgow, for example. Part of the work on the LHEES, which is due out by the end of the year, will focus on what technology is relevant in particular parts of the country.

You asked about climate and rural issues, and we have been talking about tenements in Glasgow. The LHEES will be an incredibly important part of what each local authority is doing and will set out what technology will be used.

The latest house condition survey had figures for each local authority. I will bring in Darren Knox on that in a second. Edinburgh did not come high on that list, but that is not to say that it is not an issue now, because that survey took place in 2019.

As I said, I am trying to get around as many local authorities as possible, and you and I have met to discuss housing issues in Edinburgh. I will be meeting the City of Edinburgh Council every four to six weeks to talk about broader issues, and this issue will be part of those discussions. There has been discussion about engagement with Edinburgh through the regulator, and I imagine that I will pick up that issue with the regulator.

I will bring in Darren Knox if there is anything that he wants to add. Miles Briggs and I will meet on a regular basis about the issues in Edinburgh, and I will discuss them with the council. I am more than happy to keep up the discussions on damp and mould and other issues.

That is an important point. Talking about the private rented sector and the social rented sector, rather than the owner-occupied sector, the prevalence of damp and mould was 12 per cent in the social rented sector and 12 per cent in the private rented sector.

We have talked about what we are doing in the social rented sector, but how we engage with the private rented sector is important. The Scottish Government issued a new repair standard in March 2023, which provided statutory guidance for private landlords on dampness and mould, among other things. The social rented sector has come together and has taken a lead on the issue, and I will have meetings with other stakeholders in the private rented sector to talk about it.

I encourage the private rented sector to work towards good practice. That will be key in order to establish what support the private rented sector needs from the Scottish Government. For me, a lot of it comes back to the information that can go out to residents and tenants, which is key. Sometimes, it is easier for the social rented sector to share information with, say, 6,000, 7,000 or 8,000 tenants, whereas the private sector is different—probably more diverse.