South Scotland MSP Emma Harper has called on the Scottish Government to delay the implementation of the new Scottish Fire and Safety Regulations which are currently due to be put into all homes in Scotland by February 2021.
The new regulations, which come under an amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Act (1987), require all homes owners in Scotland to ensure their property(ies) have: A smoke alarm in the living room and in circulation spaces such as hallways and landings, a heat alarm in every kitchen, all alarms ceiling mounted and interlinked and a carbon monoxide alarm where there are fixed combustion appliances such as boilers and wood burners, by February 2021.
The South Scotland MSP has said that the Scottish Government must consider extending the February 2021 deadline until February 2022, both because of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and because of the financial cost for implementation of these changes, expected to be around £220 per house.
The calls from Ms Harper follow on from a business advertisement leaflet which has been delivered to homes across Dumfries and Galloway, offering to provide fire safety installation of devices for homeowners. The leaflet also states that “time is running out” for homeowners to make these changes in compliance with the new legislation.
Commenting, Ms Harper said:
“I have been contacted by several Dumfries and Galloway constituents following the delivery of this leaflet to their homes. These constituents are concerned that they did not have knowledge of the new change to fire safety legislation, and that they have less than 6 months to make the change to comply with the law.
“Given these concerns, which are combined with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 restrictions and reduction of many peoples income, I have raised a question of the Scottish Government to consider delaying the deadline for making these changes by 12 months.
This will allow for appropriate planning for these changes to be made – given the requirement for workers to enter people’s homes – which has not
been possible for months – and for a wider public awareness effort to be carried out to ensure home owners are aware of their responsibilities and of the changes they need to make.
“COVID-19, and the restrictions on day-to-day life has been difficult for everyone across our region, and across Scotland. I do not think that now is the most appropriate time to require work to be carried out in people’s homes, nor to make people pay a projected £220 for this work to be done. I will, of course, keep constituents updated on my work in relation to this, and would encourage anyone to contact me should they have concerns.”
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