Draft Scotland Act 1998 (Specification of Devolved Tax) (Building Safety) Order 2024

John Lamont Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 General Committees

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I am happy to confirm that the Conservatives support this order. As we heard from the Minister, this order originates in a recognition that both the UK and Scottish Governments face a common challenge in the fixing of historical building safety defects, such as defective cladding. Both Governments have rightly accepted that the housing sector should make a contribution towards the cost of these works.

The last Conservative Government introduced a building safety levy, which applied as a tax on any new residential development in England. The Scottish Government have now made a request for a transfer of powers to allow them to introduce their version of this tax in Scotland. Jointly, both the Scottish and UK Governments consulted on the proposal to devolve the power to create this tax in Scotland.

The order will devolve the power to the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a new Scottish levy on building control approval for properties providing accommodation. Revenues from the levy will be used to fund building safety expenditure in Scotland. I pay tribute to the excellent officials in the Scotland Office who have done all the hard work on this order, much of which was done prior to the general election.

Although I am happy to confirm our support for the order, a number of concerns have been expressed and I would be grateful if the Minister could deal with them. I appreciate that many may be more appropriately answered by the relevant Scottish Government Minister, but I seek reassurances that the new UK Government have discussed and considered these points with the Scottish Administration.

First, is the Minister content that a new levy introduced as a consequence of this order will not have a disproportionate impact on housebuilders that have not built any housing that requires remediation? Is there a risk of double taxation, as property developers already contribute to the residential property developer tax? That may be particularly the case if some developers have already committed to paying for the remediation of buildings that they are responsible for.

Secondly, there are concerns that the introduction of a Scottish building safety levy may increase the price of new properties in Scotland. Is that something that the Minister has considered and consulted on with the Scottish Government? Lastly, some consultation respondents highlighted concerns that the introduction of a Scottish building safety levy would create additional complexity and administrative burden for housebuilders if the rates of the Scottish levy differ from those in England. Will the UK Government keep this under review? What action will they take if variation results in the distorting of the market on either side of the border? I would be grateful for the Minister’s comments on those points, but again I am happy to confirm that the Conservatives support this order.