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The UK Building Safety Bill introduces fundamental changes to the Building and Fire Safety regime for high rise buildings in England. Part five of the Bill includes provision for a New Homes Ombudsman scheme, the aim of which is to drive up standards in housebuilding and to independently resolve disputes between developers and purchasers where there is an issue concerning the quality of a new-build home.

The provisions would confer a regulation making power on Scottish Ministers to be able to add an additional descriptor of developers who would be required to join the scheme. Other aspects of the scheme are to be established by the Secretary of State either administratively or by regulations. The provisions require that Scottish Ministers are consulted on the main aspects of the scheme before they are taken forward, in order to ensure it is tailored to suit Scottish needs, culture and practice.

Whilst housing is a devolved matter, reservations apply to consumer protection and there may be matters which cannot be entirely addressed in a Scottish system. The Scottish Government wants to ensure that protections offered to buyers of new-build homes in Scotland can also take account of relevant consumer protection requirements.

The extension of the New Homes Ombudsman scheme to Scotland is subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government has increased the funding for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) by £9.5 million for 2022-23. The Grant In Aid provided to SFRS is not allocated for specific purposes, it is an operational matter for SFRS to decide how the resources should best be used to keep communities safe.

Over the last two years SFRS has received £3.4 million in Grants from Transport Scotland and the Energy Savings Trust, to invest in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure to assist in the transfer to a low carbon light fleet. SFRS also received additional Capital Budget of £0.5 million from Transport Scotland in 2021-22, to invest in a low carbon fire appliance proto-type.

The Scottish Government allocates capital funding to SFRS and decisions on how this budget is spent is a matter for SFRS. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with SFRS over its capital and resource budget needs.

Recruitment of firefighters, whether whole-time, retained or control is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service therefore figures on recruitment are not held centrally.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) came into being as a national service on 1 April 2013. In its first year of operation (2013/14) employment statistics were collated by the Scottish Government and at 31 March 2014 SFRS had, by headcount, 4,001 whole-time, 2,940 Retained, 223 control, and 961 support employees and 359 volunteers. For reporting year 2014/15 and onwards, SFRS has been responsible for producing these statistics and employment figures are published annually on the SFRS website www.firescotland.gov.uk as part of its Organisational Statistics.

Prior to 2013-14 fire and rescue services were provided by the 8 regional fire and rescue services which formed part of local government. Statistics on the number of employees in these services are not held centrally.

The Scottish Government continued our commitment to support SFRS service delivery and modernisation with a further uplift of £9.5 million resource for 2022-23 bringing the total budget to £352.7 million.

Staffing and recruitment are operational matters for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The management of fire appliances and their crewing are operational matters for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The assessment of fire stations and their condition is a matter for SFRS.

Maintenance and decisions on fire stations is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Conjoined answer for S6W-06820, S6W-06831, S6W-06832

• Severance arrangements and the scrutiny of severance cases follow the process set out in SPFM . This includes arrangements around voluntary exits and settlement agreements and use of confidentiality clauses.
• Data in relation to settlement and the number of confidentiality clauses in Scottish Government and Public bodies, NHSScotland and Scottish Funding Council overseen bodies is held from 2014 and, since then, has been provided to parliament annually – see links to previous reports . 2020-21 data will be published imminently.
• We do not hold information prior to 2014, nor do we hold information in respect of local authorities.

SG and public bodies, NHS and SFC Data. - CC = confidentiality clause.