The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will conclude its work in March 2026 ahead of the next Scottish Parliament election. While it will continue to meet, the Committee has agreed it will not consider petitions submitted after 10 October. This is to ensure all petitions currently in the system can be considered before the next Scottish Parliament election. It is also unlikely that the Committee would be able to schedule and meaningfully progress petitions submitted after 10 October before the election. Contact the Committee team at petitions.committee@parliament.scot for more information about the petitions process.
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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.
3,943 signatures
This petition is now under consideration
Click here for further information about the consideration of this petition.