Removal of dangerous cladding moving at ‘glacial pace’, Lib Dems warn

The Scottish Government has been accused of removing dangerous cladding at a “glacial pace”, after figures showed just 0.2% of potentially affected buildings have completed remediation work.

Out of an estimated 1,450 buildings that may require work to remove cladding, just three have been fully assessed under the Cladding Remediation Programme.

Another 12 single building assessments (SBAs), which assess any risk to life as a result of cladding, are currently under way.

Only two buildings in the country currently have active remediation work being undertaken.

It comes despite the Government scheme having already received 600 expressions of interest from those responsible for potentially impacted buildings.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats said there is “no excuse” for slow progress after the Grenfell tragedy eight years ago.

The party pointed to figures from England that show 48% of buildings identified with unsafe cladding have started or completed remediation work.

Willie Rennie, the party’s communities spokesman at Holyrood, said: “In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, there can be no excuses for making such glacial progress, but this SNP Government continue to blunder their way through in slow motion.

“This is an issue where Scotland simply cannot afford to fall behind; by moving so sluggishly with the necessary building works, the SNP Government are only increasing the risks to people’s lives.

“That’s why I am imploring ministers to urgently step-up the pace in fixing at-risk buildings and keep homeowners, residents and local authorities informed on developments.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “A ministerial working group on fire safety was established immediately following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and continues to co-ordinate cross-government activity to improve fire and building safety.

“The Scottish Government has introduced legislation mandating the use of fire-suppression systems in new-build multi-occupancy properties over 18 metres; introduced regulations prohibiting the use of combustible cladding materials on high-medium risk buildings; and introduced regulations requiring the installation of interlinked smoke alarms in all properties.

“We committed to addressing unsafe cladding and the wider system failures that allowed these risks to go unchallenged. That commitment is now underpinned by law through the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which took effect in January 2025.

“We are moving at pace to support the identification, assessment, mitigation and remediation of buildings affected by unsafe cladding. Where risks are identified and require immediate intervention, we will take appropriate action because protecting lives is our top priority and cannot wait.

“Since the Cladding Remediation Act came into effect in January, we have launched the single open call, backed by £10 million of Scottish Government funding, to enable residential property owners to apply for a Government-funded single building assessment.

“We will shortly be announcing the second stage of the single open call, which will allow homeowners to apply for funding for measures recommended by an assessment.

“We will continue to provide updates on progress.”