CRAIG Hoy, a Conservative MSP for South Scotland, says the SNP must postpone their plans to require homeowners to fit interlinked fire and smoke alarms by February 1.
Mr Hoy’s call comes after SNP Housing Secretary Shona Robison refused to listen to repeated calls from the Scottish Conservatives to delay the legislation.
The legislation was already postponed in October 2020 due to the pandemic, but SNP Ministers are now ploughing ahead, despite many homeowners in Midlothian still being completely unaware of the changes.
It will mean that in less than a fortnight homeowners in Midlothian will have to have:
- one smoke alarm in the room they spend most of the day, usually the living room
- one smoke alarm in every circulation space on each storey, such as hallways and landings
- one heat alarm in the kitchen
While supportive of the plans to make homes safer, Mr Hoy says that the SNP’s current timescales are completely unachievable.
He commented: “The SNP’s lack of forward planning and failure to adequately publicise these changes in Midlothian means their current timescale is completely unachievable.
“SNP Ministers still have absolutely no idea how many homes in Midlothian currently fall short of the requirements, yet they are pressing ahead anyway.
“They also claim that public awareness of the scheme is high, yet their own analysis shows one in ten households are unaware of the legislation at all, let alone what it will mean in practice.
“I will be continuing to call on the SNP to delay these changes again, as they did at the height of the pandemic.”
“Homeowners in Midlothian do not deserve to be caught out by these imminent changes.”
