Chamber and committees

I am more than happy for you to give an answer in writing, if that is easier.

Thank you.

It would be helpful if you could let the committee know as soon as you have any detail on that. That would be worth while.

Finally, I want to ask about the power to introduce a levy. Has there been any difficulty in developing the bill or the programme while we wait for the devolution of the power that would enable the introduction of a levy?

Do you have a timeline for the expected devolution of power to introduce the levy?

Why has that been left to regulations? Why is there no more detail up front to make developers aware of what is coming down the track?

The bill gives Scottish ministers the power to establish a responsible developers scheme. Are you able to set out how the scheme will speed up the remediation of potentially unsafe buildings?

The policy memorandum refers to a “proportionate approach”. What will be the Government’s attitude towards the varying levels of size of house builders? Small and medium-sized enterprises are being treated very differently in the scheme down south. What will the Government’s approach on that be in Scotland?

That reflects evidence that SCOSS has given to committees, in which it has—I do not know whether “complained” is the right word—raised concerns about the notice periods that it gets from Government and the time that it has to report on regulations. The provisions reflect some of SCOSS’s early work that suggests that a greater lead-in time is needed.

However, we have been careful to include a provision that says that, when any regulation that is made by the Government is considered to be urgent, the responsibility to consult or timescales will be waived. The bill reflects issues with working practice that SCOSS raised but still gives the flexibility to be, as you say, fleet of foot if the Government feels that regulations need to be introduced urgently.

I do not know what the UK Labour manifesto will contain. All that I can say is that, in the devolution to Scotland of that entitlement, I want a much stronger advisory council, with its own research power, to be in place to make that argument.

As you said, changes at a UK level would lead to consequentials. However, the Scottish Fiscal Commission has projected that the budget for that entitlement is due to fall, which creates headroom in the budget that has been transferred. There is capacity to make changes specifically on entitlement. However, to focus purely on the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament aspects of that, I hope that the new council would have a better relationship to start with and that its greater powers to commission research independently would make a difference.