 The next item of business is a statement by Shirley-Anne Somerville on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement and hence there should be no interventions or interruptions, I call on cabinet secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville up to 10 minutes please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. The Scottish Government and the wider public sector has already done much to understand the extent of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete rach issues in Scotland, and we recognise that there is more to do. Everyone with the responsibility for building safety takes this matter very seriously, and I want to assure the public that the Scottish Government is working at pace with partner organisations across the public sector on this challenge and has been for some time. Risks associated with the presence of rach in buildings is not a new issue in the construction sector. In order to fully understand the scope of rach, including in the school estate, we have been working with local authorities, NHS Scotland and other public sector organisations in Scotland as they have conducted reviews of rach in their properties. That allows us to better understand the extent of the issue, ensure that risks are managed and where required to be reassured that remedial work and mitigations have been put in place where necessary. The Division of Structural Engineers' first published guidance on rach to raise awareness among the structural engineering community in March 2022. My officials were made aware of this publication through engagement and professional channels at that time and have throughout supported reasonable building safety. For example, in July 2022, learning directorate officials made contact with Scottish Heads of Property Services and Association of Directors of Education in Scotland to discuss rach. In December 2022, NHS Scotland Shure commissioned a survey team to establish the extent and condition of rach across the NHS's state. In early in the summer this year, my officials had met with HSE to discuss school estate matters, including rach, and met with several local authorities individually to discuss their specific issues. In July this year, my officials issued rach survey to all local authorities via the shops network. Further more, the ministerial working group on building and fire safety discussed rach pressing for and tracking progress on this issue since December 2022. The cross sector working group on rach now supports our work as my officials join up with their sector counterparts and key public sector partners and representatives of the private sector. That has been established as a more formal forum to share good practice and recent discussion professional advice buildings on the work that is on-going, which is already under way. More recently, my officials have been invited to join the cross-UK Government working group on rach. In various recent meetings, we have once again been assured that the current institution of structural engineers guidance and the risk-based approach remains appropriate for the assessment and management of rach in schools and other buildings. The most recent discussion with the institution of structural engineers was on 5 September, when my officials met with the director who confirmed that their rach guidance has not changed and remains a good, valid practice measure in this area. We have issued it to local authorities for their information. The institution of structural engineers remains of the view that their guidance is in keeping with the health and safety executives approach to managing risk in a proportionate manner and considers all relevant factors. Although the issue of rach has been in discussion for some time and action has been taken, the UK Government Department of Education changed its approach for rach specifically in schools on 31 August, a change in approach that Scottish ministers learned through the media. Events of recent weeks have highlighted a deeply concerning level of chaos in the UK Government, overseen by the Secretary of State for Education. It is totally unacceptable that UK ministers prioritised briefing the media before alerting or sharing crucial information with devolved Governments. What can only be described as a complete dereliction of duty was not until 1856 on Sunday 3 September that the UK Government shared four pictures of rach photographs dating as far back as 2018. Photographs, not detailed or comprehensive structural reports, just photographs with the bare minimum of supporting context. To be frank, the engagement has been insulting. I can confirm to the chamber that, following receipt of the photographs, we are still waiting detailed and comprehensive structural reports that we requested on Sunday 3 September and again on Tuesday 5 September. The withholding of that information was completely reckless and irresponsible. The Secretary of State's disregard of the work of devolved Governments could not be clearer, but more importantly it has spread unnecessary alarm among parents, staff and children. As I stated earlier, work has already been under way to deal with rach in the school estate. Today, rach has been identified in 40 school buildings across Scotland, albeit in some of those it is in parts of the building, which have not been in use for some time. Wherever rach has been found, mitigations have been put in place. For example, St Kertigan's academy in West Lothian has closed parts of its estate, including dining and kitchen areas, and Preston Lodge School in East Lothian has taken action to close off impacted classrooms and other areas. Riverside primary school has fully closed its building over the summer holidays and moved pupils into alternative provision. COSLA has confirmed that safety is the central consideration, and there is robust guidance that is followed by every local authority to ensure that those buildings are safe for the pupils, staff and the public to be in. Local authorities have a clear responsibility to ensure that their schools are safe for pupils, staff and their users, and I know that they take that responsibility very seriously. They are carrying out assessments of their school buildings, and we are aware that some parts of the school estate and some councils still need to complete full surveys. Ministers have been clear to authorities that those must be carried out as a matter of the highest priority, and have offered assistance to councils in this matter where appropriate. However, it is imperative that it is transparency around the schools where RAC has been identified and the mitigations in place, and we are working with COSLA to ensure that all local authorities will have published the information about the schools affected by the end of this week. The cross-government working group that we established is enabling a centralised understanding of how RAC is affecting other sectors of the public estate. Work is on going to assess properties across the public sector. It is important to state again that the assessment process is proportionate and based on the institution of structural engineers guidance. I want to once again reassure the chamber that where RAC has been identified mitigations are in place in accordance with that guidance. What is clear is that significant work will be needed. It will need to be undertaken across the public sector estate in Scotland and, indeed, across the UK in dealing with RAC over the longer term. The First Minister has been clear that, although we do not have contingencies within Government to spend on RAC, we will, of course, spend what we need to spend in order to ensure that our buildings are safe for those who use them. I was pleased to see the Chancellor seeming to commit over the weekend that the UK Government will spend what is needed on this, but the more recent briefings coming out of the UK Government that there will be no new money are deeply worrying. Let me be clear that, after a decade of Tory austerity and cuts to capital budgets, it is simply not sustainable for the UK Government to say that no new money will be made available. This is an issue that we have been alive to for some time. Long before the change in the report and approach by the DFE, on 16 August, the Deputy First Minister wrote to the Treasury seeking clarity on new capital funding to deal with RAC. Then, on 3 September, our education secretary wrote to the Secretary of State for Education seeking clarity on funding. Thus far neither have received a response. Again, ignorance is simply astounding in such a serious situation. The UK Government cannot put their head in the sand. New capital money has to be made available, including to the devolved Governments, to allow us to take any action that may be required. Anything else would be a dereliction of duty from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, and I would hope that I can count on the support of all members in this chamber in making this case to the UK Government. I will close as I started. The safety of occupants in buildings and the buildings themselves is of utmost importance. The actions that this Government is taking along with public sector and industry partners are designed to ensure that appropriate measures are in place, provided for the short term and also the long term to ensure the safety of our buildings for their occupants. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for that, after which time we will move on to the next item of business. It would be helpful if those members who would wish to seek to ask a question could press the speaker button now, and I call Miles Pricks. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. It is clear that, for over 40 years, the use of RAC will have been widespread in construction projects not only in the school estate but potentially across all buildings constructed during that era. We do need to see full transparency. I welcome the publication of the information that the First Minister signalled at First Minister's questions. It is clear that the impact will stretch well beyond the school estate and include the NHS estate, GP surgeries, colleges and potentially council housing built during that period. What is not clear from the statement today is the position that the Scottish Government is taking and what policy and guidance will be issued to both councils, health boards and the further education sector when buildings are assessed as red at critical risk or high risk. Has the cabinet secretary touched on the institution of structural engineers' guidance that, if all public buildings that are assessed in category red, will the expectation be that those buildings will be closed to members of public? I thank Miles Pricks for that question. I thought that I had been very clear that our approach remains the absolute reliance on expert advice. That is from the Institute of Structural Engineers. That is very important. For the sake of timings, I will not go through how they suggest that we approach things either in the red, amber or green, but that is publicly available. I am happy to provide that to the member should he wishes to do so. That is what is being followed at the moment, and that is what we are strongly encouraging councils and other public bodies to follow in the future as well. I thank the cabinet secretary for her advance statement. This morning, the First Minister said that the Government has known about this issue for years. Why, I asked, did it not ask councils to investigate until the 17th of July? The minister has complained about the lack of communication and transparency from the UK Government, and she is right to do so, but the Scottish Government itself has failed on communication, too. Does the cabinet secretary accept that this failure has put Scottish local authorities on the back foot and has put pupils and staff in schools at risk? Will she confirm that the Scottish Government will do all that it can to equip local authorities with the resources, including the skills and expertise that they need to fix this issue urgently? I am not quite sure that Pam Duncan Glancy was listening particularly to the first couple of pages in the statement, where we did go through the work that has been on-going both with the national government and local government. I do not have time to go into the details of the Welsh Education Minister's recent statement, but he will find exactly the same points being made that we are making because he shares the same frustration, and they are going through exactly the same process as we are. We are staying very close, as I hope you would expect, to the Welsh Government on its approach. We will, of course, ensure that we continue to work very closely with councils. We have kept nothing from councils at all. Indeed, we have made requests from the UK Government that everything that we get we are able to share with local government. We had to make that request specifically to them, and that delayed us being able to give even the small piece of information that we have to councils. That was a disappointment, but I hope that the fact that we have tried to do that is an example of the principle that we are using with local government to ensure that we are working hand-in-hand with them on that issue. I thank the cabinet secretary for the update on measures that the Scottish Government has taken since first getting the guidance from the institution of structural engineers. I find the cabinet secretary's comments extremely worrying and to also see what the Welsh education minister has said about timing when we were made aware. Can the cabinet secretary please reaffirm when the Scottish Government was first informed by the UK Government and how we can take that matter forward? It is disappointing that we did learn about that only on 31 October and initially just through the media. It is important that we have that very frank conversation about how we found out about things, because we need to make sure that that approach stops. We have, as I said in my statement, asked the UK Government for further technical information, which we still do not have. That is the Welsh Government. I am sure that we all are genuinely concerned and wishing to reassure members of the public. We surely, of all issues, want to be working together on that, with no surprises and full transparency within the Governments. That is why it is very important that, despite the disappointing change and the way in which that change was articulated to the Scottish Government, we see a new approach so that the Administrations can genuinely be able to work together, share experience, share good practice and work out a way forward, although we will continue to follow the institution of structural engineers advice, which is different to the plans taken forward by the Department for Education. In March 2022, ministers were made aware of rack guidance from the institution of structural engineers. As the minister said, in July 2022, learning directorate heads first flagged the risks from rack. In May 2023, East Lothian Council took action to close parts of local school, yet it took until 14 August for the Scottish Government to convene a cross-public sector working group on rack. If the safety of occupants of buildings, including children, is of utmost importance to this Government, why the 18-month delay on taking action here in Scotland? There was not any 18-month delay on taking action. Can I say again that there has been no delay on that? I said in my statement about some of the examples of the work that has been on-going on this, both at an official level and a ministerial level. We are very keen to ensure, as a Government, that although we are not responsible for the local authority estate, we work closely with our colleagues in local government to be able to share advice and good practice where appropriate. That is why we continue to ensure that we have the right structures in place to ensure that we are receiving the reassurance that we have. To say that no work has been undertaken by local government or national government is not the case. It does a disservice to the people in many local councils who have been working exceptionally hard on the issue for some time and reassuring parents, staff and pupils in the process. I have one school in my constituency, which is affected by RAC, and it long predates devolution. Can I ask the cabinet secretary to highlight this point in her discussions with the UK Government and that it should fall upon the UK Government to fund any repairs that are required? As I said in my statement, there are a number of letters that remain outstanding and awaiting reply, both sent by various members of the cabinet to the UK Government on the issue. It is very important that those letters are replied at speed. Again, I would say that this is a concern that is also shared not just with us but with the Welsh Government as well. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that there are, in fact, 254 buildings across NHS Scotland that are being surveyed? When was the survey that was commissioned by NHS Scotland ashore in December 2022 escalated beyond a desk review? When will we know the results of the survey and will this be published? Can she confirm that there will be money urgently made available to remove RAC and make all NHS buildings safe for patients and safe for staff? I mentioned the funding points in some previous answers and also on my statements, but in reference to the number that Jackie Baillie referenced, the desktop review identified 254 buildings that have two or more characteristics consistent with the presence of RAC. That does of course not mean that they have RAC, and that is why it is important that further work is on going on that. The surveys have now begun. In fact, the next phase of the surveys have commenced with more work that is going on site, not just a desktop review. This is clearly something that will take some more time. This will be around six to eight months to complete the full survey programme within the NHS, but we are looking at opportunities to expedite that process, if at all possible. The cabinet secretary was aware that North Lanarkshire Council just revealed that the pivot centre in Moody's Burn, which is in my constituency, is one of two buildings in the authority identified to have RAC. North Lanarkshire Council has been in touch with me and I am grateful for the quick action that it has taken and the future plans to carry out work at the site. The council has also noted that up to 400 houses in the local authority area may be affected by RAC. Can I therefore ask what support is the Scottish Government giving to NLC and other councils to identify such properties? It is very important that the local authorities are able to talk not just about what is happening within the school estate but in the wider public sector estate as well. As I said in my statement, we are keen to ensure that all councils have published information about their school estate by the end of this week. There is clearly more work to be done to ensure that there is transparency around what is happening within the wider council estate, which includes housing. We are still in the discovery stage of finding about that awareness within the housing sector, but that is exactly why representatives from the Scottish Housing Register and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and the Chartered Institute of Housing have all been invited to participate in the cross-sector working group to ensure that this sector, both the public and private sector housing, is involved in the work on-going. I call Alex Cole-Hamilton to be followed by Keith Brown. If ministers were really across this problem, don't you think that Parliament and the public would have been told sooner that at least 40 schools and an untold number of hospitals contained this potentially lethal concrete? Ministers were nowhere near even understanding this. No money was put aside. Instead, Liberal Democrats, not the Government, were the first to lay bare the scale of the problem. Indeed, the trigger for schools closing in England was a concrete beam failing at a school in Dunblane, a beam that was rated as safe, but it failed. The Scottish Education Secretary said on channel 4 news last night, and I quote that this was an isolated incident. Does the cabinet secretary agree with her colleague? If so, how can she be sure that this will not happen again, especially when we still do not know where this stuff is or how it has been used? I call Alex Cole-Hamilton again with the great of respect. One of the reasons why this has not raised to the same public alarm as has been caused since the Department for Education has changed an approach last week is because the national government and local government have been quietly getting on with the job of ensuring that the work is being done. That is exactly why some of the examples that I gave him a statement in East Lothian and West Lothian predated the rigmarole that we have had over the past week or so. Parents have been informed of the staff and of the children, and that is quite rightly done by those responsible for the building, responsible through the local authority, who have been working with the local community about exactly what to do in it. To say that nothing has been done, I am afraid, is again disingenuous. I would point to some of the projects that have already been undertaken through week phases 1 and 2 that have dealt with some of those issues already. In the example of Dunblane, the Dunblane school, which is an MOD school, this was not reported to the Scottish Government. It was not reported to any education authority in Scotland after that incident happened, either by the school or the Ministry of Defence or the Department for Education. The first time we found out about it as Scottish Government ministers was on 31 August. That is a very clear example once again of a disappointing lack of sharing of information for that exact school. I should say that my question was about the constituency interest that I have, which is the school that has just been mentioned by Alex Cole-Hamilton, who does not represent Dunblane. However, can I ask in relation to that school? RAC issues were identified at Queen Victoria school in Dunblane, as well as at Stirling University, which will take up separate with the relevant minister. Both are very important intuitions of my constituency. My understanding is, of course, that QVS is an MOD school. The responsibility for its upkeep lies with the UK Department of Education. In addition to what she just said, confirm that any issues that have been identified have been dealt with, and that there is no on-going risk to students and staff in either of those buildings. As a QVS as an MOD school, if the Scottish Government was made aware of the RAC issues at QVS when they were first identified by the Department of Education. We understand that there was an issue at that MOD run school in March 2023. It was investigated by the MOD in April that year and reported to the Department of Education for the UK in May 2020. As I said in my previous answer, the Scottish Government was informally told of this incident during a phone call that the Cabinet Secretary for Education had with Baroness Barren last Thursday. We have expressed our concerns about the way that this whole school incident was approached. In relation to Stirling University, I understand that mitigation measures have been taken within the students union, where the issue has been identified. As we are hearing many of the buildings affected by RAC, they are owned by local authorities from schools such as Charleston Academy and Forrest academy to libraries and community centres. The Verity House agreement sets out a new partnership approach with local authorities with added emphasis on working together on areas of shared responsibility. What more can the Scottish Government do to work in tandem with local authorities to give reassurance to members of the public that all arms of government are working together? That is a very important point about working together on the issue. That is why the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and myself met COSLA officials and some of the councillors at the start of this week, and we will again do so next week, too. It is important that we not only publish information about the schools but that local authorities ensure that they provide context to that. For example, we have schools where RAC has been identified, but it has been an apart of a building that has not been in use for many years. The context is important to ensure that we are reassuring the pupils, staff and parents. We will continue to work together. As I said in my statement, those meetings will continue not just about the school estate but also on the wider council estate, too. I call Liam Kerr to be followed by Bill Kidd. In the north-east, several schools, including Mackey, Westhill and Northfield academies, and Abbotswell, Cornhill and Quarry Hill primaries, have now been confirmed to contain RAC. Cabinet Secretary Neil Gray said last weekend that there is no immediate risk to people using those buildings, yet the First Minister said on Monday that a review, whilst councils check buildings, will take some months. On what basis did Neil Gray assert that there should be no immediate risk? What extra funding and assistance are being provided to Aberdeenishire councils to perform the checks? The reassurance that people can be given, and I mean this with the greatest respect to my colleague Neil Gray or others, is because structural engineers experts have been working with a local authority responsible for that school to be able to ensure that every RAC is there, to what extent and what mitigation measures need to be put in place. The Government has had reassurances that those mitigation measures were required because of that expert advice are in place. Clearly, we will continue our discussions with all councils to ensure that we are keeping up-to-date on the mitigation measures and any long-term work that is required. I hope that Liam Kerr will join me in the calls that we are making to the UK Government to assist all devolved administrations with the capital expenditure that will be required in the longer term. Once mitigations are required to be moved on to refurbishment or changes to those buildings, we will get that extra funding from the UK Government as requested. There has been much discussion in the chamber this afternoon about who should be doing what and when. The reality is that, without the borrowing powers of the Scottish Government, the Government cannot act by itself to fund wide-scale repairs should that be found necessary. In response to my question on Tuesday, the cabinet secretary stated that the finance secretary was still to receive a response from the Treasury regarding further financial support to help to deal with the consequences of RAC. Has the reply been received? I don't think so, but it would be nice to hear for sure again. Do we know how much we will be due? As to how much any final bill will be, that will obviously not be able to be determined until all the structural surveys have been undertaken right across the estate. However, with reference to Bill Kidd's earlier questions, I can confirm once again that we have not received replies to the Deputy First Minister's letter on 16 August. It is very important that we receive that reply, because if the Chancellor is willing to go on television and talk about spending what it takes, then it is important that he then works with the devolved Administrations to ensure that we have a plan in place to be able to take that forward. I call Fosal Churching. West Lothian Council has been working for several years to identify and address the problem of RAC in schools in the area. It has now been waiting nine months for an announcement on the learning investment state programme funding to see if the bid for a new school in Livingstone was successful. Can the cabinet secretary advise when an announcement will be made on this funding so that council can actually begin to address the problem with RAC in school? I thank Fosal Churching for that question. It is a very important one, because I appreciate that there are councils across the country that are waiting for announcements on leap phase 3. On an earlier answer, the leap phase 1 and 2 has already dealt with some of the projects that councils came to us with for 1 and 2 that involved RAC were funded. Of course, Scottish ministers are now looking at the projects from local authorities where RAC has been identified. That will be part of the decision-making process for phase 3. We are having to look very carefully at leap phase 3, as I hope the member will understand because of the increase in construction close gobly. That presents a major capital challenge for us, not just in the school estate, but I hope that he can be reassured and, indeed, with Lothian Council, can be that those matters are being taken into consideration when we look at leap phase 3. That concludes the statement, and there will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business, to allow front bench teams to change positions should they wish.