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This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

The Building Standards (Compliance and Enforcement) Review Panel met on 27 November 2017, 12 February 2018 and 23 April 2018. The minutes of these meetings can be found at https://beta.gov.scot/publications/building-standards-compliance-and-enforcement-review-panel/ .

The Chair of the Panel, Professor John Cole, has now published the recommendations and this document is now available on the Scottish Government website, at https://beta.gov.scot/publications/report-review-compliance-enforcement/

The next meeting of the Review Panel is expected to be held in October 2018.

We have committed to introducing Low Emission Zones into Scotland’s four biggest cities between 2018 and 2020, and then into all other Air Quality Management Areas 2023 where evidence supports such mitigation. Glasgow City Council have stated that their LEZ will be put in place by the end of 2018 and City of Edinburgh Council are seeking to introduce an LEZ in 2019.

The recommendations from the Building Standards (Compliance and Enforcement) Review Panel and Building Standards (Fire Safety) Review will be presented to the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety at their next meeting on 13 June 2018. Once Ministers have had the opportunity to review these recommendations, it is planned to consult over the Summer 2018 period.

The building regulations recognise that combustible construction products, including insulation, can contribute to the spread of fire in buildings. This is why the use of combustible materials is limited depending on various factors, such as the type of building, its height and the location of the combustible material.

As it is usually the furniture and fittings that are the initial source of fuel for a fire in a building, the smoke produced by these has most influence on dangerous conditions for occupants being reached. Experience shows that external or encapsulated building materials, such as wall insulation, do not usually significantly add to the production of toxic smoke within the building itself.

Yes, the guidance to building regulations contained in the Building Standards Technical Handbooks considers products classified as B or lower under European Standards “reaction to fire” tests to be combustible.

The advice of Scottish Government is building regulations currently permit the use of any construction materials that can be evidenced as being suitable for their proposed use. Aspects such as the use and the height of the building are taken into account when determining the suitability of cladding and insulation materials.

Following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower last year, Scottish Government established an expert panel to review building standards. The panel considered the appropriateness and relevance of both current standards and guidance and the appropriateness of both British and European test methodology. The outcomes from this review will be shared with the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety at its next meeting on 13 June and thereafter these recommendations will form part of a public consultation that will commence this summer.

The following property factor was removed from the register of property factors (the register) under section 8(1) of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011. It was considered that the property factor was no longer a fit and proper person to be a property factor (and was no longer a legal entity) and failed to demonstrate compliance with a property factor enforcement order as notified to Scottish Ministers by a Homeowner Housing Committee (now known as the First-tier Tribunal).