VAT (Home Safety Equipment)

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the United Kingdom Government regarding VAT on home safety equipment, including the impact of VAT costs on housing associations fitting this equipment. (S7O-00479)

VAT is a reserved matter for the United Kingdom Government. Although the Scottish Government has not discussed the specific issue with the UK Government, I will be happy to write to HM Treasury to highlight the member’s concerns, if he provides me with further details.

I will give the cabinet secretary further details now, in a live example. Gardeen Housing Association, which is based in the Barlanark area of my constituency, takes tenant safety incredibly seriously. When it installs fire alarms, there are costs for VAT for the fire alarms and for the contractors.

I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for the invitation on taking that up with the UK Government. I ask her to cite that particular example as to why housing associations should not be subject to the prohibitive VAT regime but should be able to invest that money elsewhere—in tenants and in building new homes.

I thank David Linden for bringing up that important issue, because those policies have an impact on our housing associations across the country. He gave the example of Gardeen Housing Association, but the issue will also have an impact on others. If Mr Linden has further information to provide, I would be happy to include that in my letter to the Treasury. I will also ensure that my officials reach out to the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations on whether it would like to comment before any correspondence is sent.