Flaming hypocrites! How SNP broke their own f ire alarm laws
THE SNP Government broke its own laws on fire safety by failing to meet the legal deadline for installing the correct alarm systems in official buildings.
Rules were introduced this year making it illegal from the beginning of February not to have interlinked devices covering all areas of a property.
SNP Ministers insisted on pressing ahead with the legislation despite repeated pleas for the deadline to be delayed as suppliers faced difficulties obtaining equipment and householders struggled to get the systems fitted.
However, it has now been revealed that the Scottish Government missed its own deadlines by six months in some of its buildings.
The last Scottish Government premises to install the correct alarms and therefore comply with the law only did so on August 18 – more than half a year late.
Despite the SNP Government insisting every home in Scotland ‘must’ have the new systems in February, guidance issued yesterday stated ‘no one will be penalised’ for not installing the alarms.
Politicians yesterday criticised the SNP for ‘hypocrisy’ over the new regulations.
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative housing spokesman, said: ‘This is a shameful admission from the SNP Government, who refused to move the deadline for installing these new alarms even when it became apparent that they had failed to properly inform the public of the change in the law.
‘Everybody agreed that these new alarms should be installed for safety reasons but the government didn’t do enough to tell people what they needed to do.
‘Now we have learned that the SNP were breaking their own law for more than six months, long after their buildings should have been up to standard.
‘The SNP must take full responsibility for their failures and explain why it took so long for these buildings to comply with the law.’
The failure was revealed in a freedom of information request obtained by the Scottish Conservatives on the installation of the interlinked alarm systems in 74 Scottish Government buildings.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday told in January of chaos over the regulations as it emerged hundreds of thousands of homes in Scotland would be breaking the law by not having the correct systems fitted, leading to concerns that insurance policies could be invalid.
During the last week of January, as the deadline approached, a survey of 1,000 people revealed that nearly half had still to fit the interlinked alarms.
One electrician in the Glasgow area said at the time: ‘They are relatively easy to fit but the problem is supply. They are like gold dust just now.’
The Scottish Government declined to discuss why it had missed its own deadlines.
A spokesman said yesterday: ‘All buildings are compliant with all relevant fire prevention and detection regulations.’