Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 10 December 2025.
Fulton MacGregor
Scottish National Party
To ask the Scottish Government how much it will allocate in its forthcoming budget to local authorities to provide financial support to those affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, including businesses. (S6O-05273)
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
The 2026-27 Scottish budget will be published and presented to the Parliament on 13 January next year, and further details will be available at that stage. We expect every local authority in Scotland to keep those affected by RAAC up to date with guidance and support to help to manage this issue. We are keen to work with councils on exploring solutions, such as flexibility to support more affordable housing projects in their area to create the fiscal headroom needed.
Fulton MacGregor
Scottish National Party
This week, I met representatives of four small local businesses that had been based on Main Street in Coatbridge but had been forced to relocate in what they had been told was an emergency due to the presence of RAAC in an adjoining property.
That has led to massive financial and personal costs to those businesses, whose operators tell me that they have no financial support and very little practical support from the council, despite them believing that support had been promised at a previous council meeting and despite them having taken, in good faith, the advice that the council gave them. The council says that the businesses do not fit the criteria for any of its current grants. Surely that is not right. Those businesses support a town centre that is already in trouble, and they provide valuable employment.
What more can the Scottish Government do to enable local authorities to provide support to businesses in such exceptional circumstances, thereby reducing the risk of our high streets going into further decline?
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
I recognise that this is a difficult time for businesses that are affected by RAAC, and Fulton MacGregor has laid out the impact on such businesses in his area. We encourage all business owners to follow the guidance that is available, including that from the Institution of Structural Engineers. However, I will be happy to look further into the matter if the member will share the details with me.
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