 Yr wyf ei sydd yn gwneud yn rhan o'i cyllideithio bethau ddau iарadau fod yn 5, 4, 5, 3, yn y rhan o Clare Adamson, o'r gaffau ysgol y gwynfer 2022 i'r byw sy'r yngrif yn wrth gwrs y gyrfaith. Mae'n symud i gwneud yn gwneud rhoeddoedd, rhaid i gynnyddio bryddoch chi arlineg wrth ygaf chi a fyddwn i yn ddym ni i gydig i'r tyfn o'u gwnfyrdd. Ar hyn, rwyf i'n gydig i'r gweithio bethau ysgol ydw i ddiweddon i gael eu gwrs ffrindwyr I'm delighted to highlight Gas Safety Week 2022, which ran from 12 to 18 September and is co-ordinated by Gas Safety Register. I thank all colleagues who are speaking this evening and all those who signed the motion to allow the debate to take place this evening. I'd also like to thank organisations in the third sector, such as Age Concern Scotland, Rosba and industry organisations such as SGN, who get behind Gas Safety Week to promote safety in all our communities. That would have marked the twelfth year of the campaign. The events and activities around the initiative were cancelled in light of the sad death of Queen Elizabeth, but the messaging around Gas Safety Week remains every bit as important. Gas Safety Week emphasises a danger of poorly maintained gas appliances. That can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. While I have lodged motions on the initiative and we have held events over a number of years, I believe that this is the first debate on Gas Safety Week in the Scottish Parliament. So, some fundamentals. Who are Gas Safety Register? Gas Safety Register provide a host of support and resources, including an interactive gas map tool, allowing consumers to find out how many unsafe gas jobs have been carried out and identified in their area. Formally known as Corgi, it's the official registration body of gas businesses and engineers in the United Kingdom. Anyone undertaking gas work in a commercial or domestic setting by law must be on the Gas Safety Register. A gas engineer can only be aligned to a registered business and be issued with a licence to undertake gas work if they individually hold a valid and current qualification. The register and all the services associated with it are operated on behalf of the relevant health and safety authority for each region, the health and safety executive in the United Kingdom. Gas Safety Register also provide a host of free resources and advice to help people to stay safe. In the interests of raising awareness, here are 10 simple steps to help to keep you safe and warm in your home. You should only use a Gas Safety Register engineer to fit and fix services, you can find the register online and you can check the credentials of any gas person when presenting as a Gas Safety Register engineer with their organisation. You can check both sides of your engineer's Gas Safety Register as each of the elements that are listed separately on their credentials and you must make sure that the engineer undertaking work is qualified in the particular area of work that they are undertaking in your home. Gas appliances need to be regularly serviced and checked. If you rent a home, you can ask for a copy of your landlord's current Gas Safety Record. Know the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. This is so important. CO poisoning can cause headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, collapse and lack of consciousness. Unsafe gas appliance can put you at risk of CO poisoning, also your pets at risk of CO poisoning and it can cause leaks, fires and explosions. One of the things about CO poisoning is that you may find that these symptoms alleviate when you leave your home. Indeed, I do not think that I am saying anything out of term when I say that one of my MP colleagues attended a gas safety event in Westminster and from that event realised that he himself could be suffering and it turned out was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning and that is why raising awareness is so important. We also need to check gas appliances for warning signs. If there is a yellow flame and not a crisp blue one, that could indicate a problem. Also, black marks, stains around the appliance and too much condensation in your room can indicate a problem. Every home should have an audible carbon monoxide alarm. That alerts you if there is carbon monoxide in your home. However, I would go further and follow some of the other safety advice that suggests that you should pack a CO alarm when you are on holiday. Those are vital and can indicate if there is a problem in a temporary holiday accommodation or a caravan where there may be no working alarm, particularly when travelling abroad. You need to keep vents and chimneys clear so that you do not block up vents that have been put in for gas appliances. Use of gas appliances is also only for their intended purpose. Do not be tempted to use them for something that they were not meant for such as heating a room. The use of camping stoves and disposable barbecues in the context of carbon monoxide poisoning is very important, too. In a domestic setting, if they are used not as intended or used in enclosed space, they can also lead to carbon monoxide poisoning and sadly death. Know your emergency procedure. If you smell gas or suspect immediate danger, then familiarise yourself with emergency contacts at freely available for the relevant gas safety numbers in Scotland. More importantly, as we are doing today, spread the word. Share vital gas safety information with friends, family and neighbours and make sure that your communities stay safe. That is the purpose of gas safety a week, which is raising that awareness. I became interested in gas safety awareness because of a matter of social justice. Accidents disproportionately impact people in the most deprived areas. If you are passionate about equality and social justice, you have to be passionate about accident prevention and safety. Our constituents are facing a cost-of-living crisis, and while budgets are stretched to the limit, safety checks and annual services are something that could be overlooked, but they simply cannot be a discretionary spend. They are vital. I would ask the minister this evening, in his discussions with colleagues on the cost of living crisis, could he push for providers to offer discounted or free services to those who are most stressed from fuel poverty, in much the same way as fuel cards and payments may be accessed, as that may become a very vital issue? Running out of time quickly, as always, in those debates. I thank all my colleagues this evening, and I ask them to use their social media, use their presence in their communities to promote gas safety, not just in gas safety week but throughout the years, to keep our communities safe. Thank you very much, Ms Adamson, and I call Miles Briggs to be followed by Mark Griffin for around four minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I start by thanking Claire Adamson on securing this member's debate this evening and for her campaigning on this issue, which is a very important issue, and I am pleased that this member's debates come to the chamber. It is welcome to have further discussion on the issue today, especially at a time when issues around gas are in the news so often, and it is worth reflecting that gas safety has significantly improved from where we were at 30 years ago. However, too often we do still hear reports around gas explosions in homes and the widespread destruction of property or even fatalities, or a carbon monoxide leak that results in people being poisoned, so raising public awareness is absolutely crucial. We already have and welcome the fact that we have gas safety week, yet that only scratches the surface of much more that needs to be done on this area. To maybe look towards how we can more regularly improve on-going public information campaigns, not just here in Parliament but by energy companies themselves, focusing on the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. I was trying to remember before this debate whether or not my council tax actually included a piece of information on this, because I think it did, but I think that I might have been to the piece of paper that came with it, but there are ways in which we can make sure that public information is taken forward. Overall, in Scotland and the UK we have a reasonably good record on safety in our gas network. That being said, there are issues that need highlighted. One area that certainly needs to be addressed is the issue around proper maintenance of gas equipment by registered gas safety engineers. Many people will be unaware of the importance of this and are still unable, in many cases, to afford what will be a higher cost for paying for an annual check-up on appliances. With concerns that Claire Adamson rightly raised with the cost of living crisis and energy bills this winter, many people will just not have the income to check their appliances. Organisations and charities are already providing services like that, and I hope that we can promote that through our networks and genuinely maybe see how that can be widely accessed. Equally important is that we support tenants who request a gas safety certificate from landlords as well. Given that this is a legal obligation, I hope that all landlords should be aware of that obligation to make that available to their tenants. The Covid-19 pandemic has impressed upon all of us the real importance of having reliable and safe gas appliances and properties as people have spent more time in their homes as well. According to StayGasSafe.co.uk, one in five homes in Scotland, inspected by gas safety engineers, had unsafe gas appliances. It is vital that consumers stay safe by checking their gas appliances every year and by checking that their engineers who are doing this are also gas safe registered. However, it is not just the duty of consumers to do that. It is also important that we look towards that corporate social responsibility, which Clare Edison touched upon. Helping to protect customers and save lives is vital. Carbon monoxide poisoning should be a concern of the past but regrettably is not. We need to see how—what I was taken with was a point around tourism, when people are going to caravans or visiting properties to take an alarm with them or for those properties to also be fitted with them and people having the confidence of their appliances they will be using while on holiday. That is an important issue to come out of this debate as well. According to a report by Corgi Home Plan in 2015, one in ten Scottish adults had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning in their own home, which is a truly staggering statistic, and one that reinforces the need to be vigilant about unsafe energy appliances. Awareness around carbon monoxide poisoning is still not where it should be, and I hope that this debate helps to demonstrate that. People often are associating it with death, but often, like has been highlighted, it is flu-like symptoms which present and can, in many cases, help to drive potential brain damage, strokes, depression, personality changes. There are other things that we need to highlight changes around. It has also been mentioned, odalis, which only adds to its menace. It is therefore crucial that utmost care is taken to ensure that any leaks and faulty appliances are identified and that we prevent that. To conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, as we approach Scottish winter months, I would like to see all organisations involved in gas provision to throw their weight behind this campaign and how we extend it beyond gas safety week. I very much welcome the fact that Claire Evans has brought this debate to Parliament and I hope that this is a beginning of what can be a substantial piece of work to try to drive all deaths down during this. I would like to draw members' attention to my register of interests, which shows that I am an honour of rental property in North Lanarkshire. I am grateful to Claire Addinson for bringing this debate to the chamber today. Given the winter that we face with increased cost of heating, housing and food, it is more important than ever that we recognise the risks of unsafe gas appliances. The annual service is obviously key to making sure that we can go through winter without having to potentially face a cold bath or a shower and that the heating does not fail when temperatures get really low. I suspect that, worryingly so, like Claire Addinson and Miles Briggs have already touched on, that the costs of servicing those appliances will probably seem like at an expense that could be saved by many households who are struggling this year in particular. Having taken a look at the gas map tool that Claire Addinson references in our motion, it is really concerning to see the numbers of unsafe gas appliances in every community across Scotland. I had a look around the areas around my home in Cymru that show hundreds of unsafe boilers, unsafe cookers and unsafe fires that are really concerning the number of unsafe appliances that are out there. For tenants in private and social sector housing, those services should be conducted regularly, but we know that some landlords do fail to fulfil their legal duties to maintain a property or sometimes can have problems in getting access to properties to carry out those annual checks. Plenty of tenants as well are ultimately unaware of their rights to have their appliances serviced and even the very existence of the Repairing Standard, a report by rentbetter published in May that found amongst its sample that private tenants were dissatisfied with repairs in the condition of their homes, that they had low awareness of rights, including the Repairing Standard, and they had a lack of confidence or a fear of exercising their rights due to potential repercussions of rent increases or being evicted just for asking for a safe standard to be maintained. I absolutely welcome the Government's plan for a tenants' rights campaign, but perhaps our awareness campaigns need to be broader or at least more integrated when it comes to different strands of tenants' rights. I also wanted to touch on the risks of the dangers of poorly maintained gas appliances that Claire Adamson's motions referred to, which can cause fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. We all know the measures that we can take to make our homes safer, but they can be costly. Sometimes it costs particularly that some people can't afford right now and, like I say, people will be reconsidered whether they should service their gas supplies this year. In February, the new smoke and fire alarm standard was introduced, costing an average of £250 per household at a cost that households have already borne. Complaint households will now have much better protection, but the cost was far from insubstantial. The cost and benefit are a double-edged sword for low-income homeowners. The £1 million that was eventually allocated to help low-income households wasn't quite enough. FYI's, I obtained regarding the first tranche of cash, put installations at £325 each. The total that would probably deliver about 3,000 installations against an estimated £60,000 plus eligible need an upgrade. I wonder what action the Government has been able to take and hope that the Minister can outline in closing when the next housing quality standard survey will be published detailing the progress that has been made to meet that standard and, like Clare Adamson and others, given the costs of those installations, it would make sense to see what work can be done to limit or reduce the cost of an annual service for those struggling most. I know that many people will be avoiding turning on the heating for as long as possible this year, but when we do, having those appliances working in the best order could be a matter of life or death, so it's of utmost importance that those appliances are serviced. Mr Griffin, it's good to see your doorbell in fine working order. I now call Siobhan Brown, who is the last speaker in the opening debate for about four minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I start by thanking my colleague Clare Adamson for bringing this very important debate to the chamber this evening and also highlighting some really important points in her speech. It is so important that people understand the importance of gas safety and the dangers of gas that can cause death and serious injury. Worringly, figures from research by Gas Safe Register had gas safety at the bottom of their list of priorities for homeowners. Only 12% of home buyers would fit in a new boiler, whereas 27% would prioritise redecorating the home first. Deputy Presiding Officer, unfortunately, I have a community within my constituency who has been devastated by a gas explosion and know only too well the devastating consequences. Last year, around 7pm on Monday 18 October, a major gas explosion devastated the Kincaidson community in my air constituency. The explosion was heard miles away in neighbouring towns. I remember vividly my windows rattling and hearing a big bang, which I dismissed as my children upstairs maybe just jumping off a bed, to shortly afterwards an image of devastation, panic and chaos appearing on social media. File services, police, ambulance were all redeployed at pace to assist at the scenes, and sometimes one does not appreciate the emergency services until you see them in action in a national emergency like that night. I would like to put my personal thanks and gratitude for all the emergency services who worked relentlessly that night and in the days after that awful event. In the moments after the blast, there was confusion, panic and fear. Hundreds of people were evacuated, four houses were destroyed, windows were shattered, cars were destroyed and there was a community in panic. Scenes that would be comparable to a war scene, not a quiet neighbourhood Monday night in air. For many hours, nobody knew what had happened and how many were injured. The local community centre opened its doors and the community of Kincaidson pulled together to try and make some sense of what had just happened and to support each other. Due to the devastation, it took days to confirm that thankfully there had been no deaths, but unfortunately a family of four were hospitalised that evening. What we saw in the following days was not only the community of Kincaidson coming together, but the whole of air pulled together individuals, donated food, supplies as well as all the local businesses and making sure those affected had essential supplies and a safe place to sleep while they waited for all clear to return to their homes. One year on, the people of Kincaidson are still haunted and recovering from that night. As time went on, the community demanded answers. Why did this happen? What could be done to prevent this happening again in the future? A recent HSE report revealed that the explosion was caused by corroded pipes running through the estate, laid down by the predecessor to SGN. Before that report was published, SGN did prioritise replacing the whole gas pipe work in the area from the old lead pipes, which were laid in the 1970s, to the new safer plastic pipes. I would like to take this moment to ask that lessons can be learnt from this gas explosion in Kincaidson. We need to prioritise replacing of the old lead pipes to the new safer plastic pipes as a matter of urgency throughout our communities. The reason I raise this incident is that it shows that gas is something to be treated with respect and with caution. Fail to do that, then it could result in life-changing consequences. We go on to turn our heating a hot water without thinking about it. The problem is we often don't realise how dangerous gas can be until it's too late. Although the Kincaidson explosion was unrelated to the residents' activities, there are still important lessons that we can take from that night. Let me echo the statements that have already been made. If you smell gas, shut off your gas emergency safe valve, open the doors and windows to let fresh air in, extinguish all naked flames and do not smoke, don't operate electrical switches even to turn them off and then call the gas emergency number, which is 0800 111 999. Please write that down and save it on your phones and share it with family and friends. This is an emergency number we should all remember. We could also take important and easy steps to prevent gas leaks. Have your gas appliances serviced and safety checked every year using the gas safe registered engineer? It's a small thing to do, but it will give you peace of mind and can perhaps save your life. Thank you very much, Ms Brown. I now invite Patrick Harvie to respond to the debate minister for around seven minutes, please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I of course thank Claire Adamson, as others have done, for bringing the motion for debate and thank the contribution of all members from across the chamber on what is clearly an important, but also a life-saving matter, whether in relation to a sudden traumatic event, such as the one that Siobhan Brown just described, thankfully rare but nonetheless traumatic, or indeed the slower and more invisible danger of issues such as carbon monoxide poisoning, which Claire Adamson and others have mentioned. All of that is a reminder of how important and how potentially life-saving it is to take gas seriously, as Siobhan Brown just mentioned. Gas safety week is an annual safety week that provides a platform for the industry, as well as consumer organisations and individuals across the UK in raising awareness with the whole public of the issues of gas safety and the importance of taking care of gas appliances. It is co-ordinated by the Gas Safe Register, the official list of gas engineers who are legally allowed to work on gas appliances. As Claire Adamson mentioned, and as all members will appreciate, the death of the Queen meant that much of the Gas Safety Week activity was not taken forward by Gas Safe Register as planned. However, despite some scaling back of the planned activity, Gas Safety Week has been active since 2011, has gone from strength to strength in engaging the wider public in innovative ways as the motion rightly sets out, and I commend all of that work and all of those who have been involved in it. They have our thanks for keeping people safe. Claire Adamson is right to ask the Government to consider what more we can do to make sure that support and prevention work is targeted to those who need it most, including those households facing the most severe cost of living impacts. I will certainly take that up and have a discussion with colleagues. It may be that there is a role not only for Government but also for industry and the third sector in helping to make that happen. In my role as Minister for Heat and Buildings and Zero Carbon Buildings, members will be aware that that makes me a Minister for a Post-Gas Future. My job and the Scottish Government's priority, and indeed a shared priority for all of us who supported Scotland's ambitious and essential climate targets, is to support households and businesses to move not only towards more energy-efficient buildings but also away from gas and towards zero carbon sources. However, as things stand right now, gas plays a very significant part in how we heat our homes and buildings and how we cook. It is important that, even as we accelerate that transition towards decarbonised homes, gas safety remains on our agenda all year round, not only during gas safety week. It is not always, though, a priority that is at the front of our minds as individuals and as householders. The importance of having gas appliances safely checked by gas safe engineers at least once a year cannot be underestimated. If left unchecked, poorly-serviced gas appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. This year's gas safety week focused on the steps that consumers can take to ensure that they stay safe themselves. That includes some things that we should not do, not attempting DIY work on gas appliances, for example. Being aware of the warning signs as well of unsafe appliances such as dark or city staining and it is worth reiterating the important actions that people can take positively to ensure that they remain safe. A faulty gas appliance can cause injury or death, and it is important to ensure that all those appliances and the associated equipment are safe to use. They should be regularly serviced by qualified, competent gas engineers who are gas safe registered. Only engineers who are gas safe registered can service gas appliances and equipment, including boilers, portable heating or lighting, gas fires and cooking appliances. No-one must ever use gas appliances that they think might be faulty and ensure that vents, grills and flues are kept free from obstruction. Faulty appliances and restricted ventilation can also, as we have heard, lead to a dangerous build-up of carbon monoxide in the home. Fitting, as Clare Adamson said, fitting and maintaining a carbon monoxide detector can give people a warning of a faulty appliance. That is why the Scottish Government made it a legal requirement to include a carbon monoxide detector in any room with a carbon-fuelled appliance. I would strongly encourage everyone to look into fitting one of those detectors as soon as possible if they have not yet done so. As members will be aware, gas safety legislation is reserved to the UK Government and applies across the UK, covering a wide range of gas safety issues. Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety Installation and Use Regulations 1998 sets out the statutory duty on annual gas safety inspections. As is the case in each UK administration, our building regulations also set out requirements relevant to the initial installation of gas appliances. The person responsible for the building is required to ensure that a new combustion appliance is installed to operate safely. For gas-fired appliances, our supporting guidance cites the UK legislation that is applicable to both installations and to the competence of the installers. As Mark Griffin mentioned, for those who live in rented accommodation, both social and private, landlords are responsible for ensuring that necessary safety checks are carried out. Our new deal for tenants proposals show our determination to continue to strengthen the position for tenants in Scotland. The Scottish Government's prescribed information legislation for private landlords began on 16 September 2019. That means that when a landlord is either applying online for registration for the first time or renewing their registration online, they will be required to complete questions on gas safety certification. Landlords have three main responsibilities to carry out those gas safety checks every year, to provide the tenant with a copy of the annual gas safety certificate and to ensure the continued safety of pipework, appliances and flues by carrying out maintenance work. As a landlord, it is a legal requirement to provide a gas safety certificate for their property for the current year and to check and retain that certificate for the previous two years. That certificate confirms that the gas installation is safe and all gas appliances are safe and free from danger. In winding up, we have heard about the various regulations in place to protect consumers. They play a vital role, but it is also important to recognise the role of supporting consumers to protect themselves. Householders must remember that they should only use engineers who are on the gas safe register. The register is easily accessible online and can either be used to find a local registered business or to check whether a particular business is on the register. Initiatives such as Gas Safety Week have a vital role to play in supporting consumers in making wise choices when they have work done on gas appliances. In closing, I want to put on record once more the Government's sincere thanks to all those who have supported Gas Safety Week, and I hope that people will make use of the available material and ensure that their gas appliances are checked over by gas safe engineers so that they and their family members are safe. Thank you very much indeed minister. That concludes the debate, and I close this meeting appointment.