The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will conclude its work this Parliament in March 2026 ahead of the next Scottish Parliament election. So the Committee has time to complete its work, it has agreed not to consider petitions submitted after 10 October.
The Committee will continue to meet but given the volume of petitions and agreed work programme it is unlikely that the Committee would be able to meaningfully progress work on petitions submitted after 10 October ahead of the election. Petitions lodged after this date will not fall when the Parliament is dissolved and will be for the successor committee to consider in the new session.
If you are seeking urgent action or policy change please contact one of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government directly.
Under consideration PE2105: Safeguard Scottish Listed Buildings at risk of unnecessary demolition
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to set a minimum evidence requirement to prevent unnecessary use of emergency public safety powers to demolish listed buildings.
Background information
The emergency powers in the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 can, in our view, allow for the demolition of listed buildings without sufficient evidence to justify the decision. This is in conflict with planning safeguards in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997. The following policy controls are needed to address this loophole in legislation and to ensure listed buildings (LBs) are not exposed to unjust demolition:
1. Enhanced policy guidance on the minimum evidence and processes required by local authorities before making decisions on the demolition of LBs under emergency powers.
2. A mandatory policy requirement for local authorities to engage with conservation accredited engineers in all cases involving LBs.
3,938 signatures
This petition is now under consideration
Click here for further information about the consideration of this petition.