Regulatory Review Group minutes: February 2026

Attendees and apologies

Professor Russel Griggs OBE, RRG Chair 
Susan Love, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Scottish Retail Consortium 
Fiona Richardson, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities 
David MacKenzie, Trading Standards 
Craig Brown, Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland
Douglas White, Consumer Scotland
Robbie McGregor, British Standards Institute 
Iain Hall, UKAS
Brendan McGinty, Competition and Markets Authority
Gary Cox, Scottish Government
Geoff Ogle, Food Standards Scotland

Items and actions

Welcome, Introductions, Approval of Minutes and Correspondence, and update on UKAS Board meeting 

Professor Russel Griggs OBE welcomed and thanked attendees for participating in this in person meeting of the Regulatory Review Group (RRG). Minutes from the previous meeting (27 January) were agreed.

Russel updated members on the UKAS Board meeting which he attended on 24 February, which he felt was an interesting and engaging discussion. It was agreed at this meeting to explore ways in which the RRG and UKAS can continue to expand links, including through the RRG receiving more input from UKAS on certain policy areas. The RRG will also work with UKAS on messaging to new and returning ministers in the wake of the upcoming the Scottish Parliamentary Elections.

Regulator’s Strategic Code of Practice Draft

Scottish Government (SG) officials updated members on the current draft of the updated Regulator’s Strategic Code of Practice, which was circulated in advance of the meeting. If agreed by ministers, the updated code will require parliamentary approval. Members generally felt that it was important that mechanisms for the oversight of regulator’s performance be built-in to the code and its Terms of Reference. They also raised the need for the code to delineate between local and national regulators to a greater extent than the draft code does.

Members will provide officials with all feedback in writing by 3 March. 

Awaab’s Law

SG officials presented to members on the development and implementation of Awaab’s law. They noted that regulations were laid in Parliament on 21 January, and that these would, if approved, commence on 6 October 2026. These regulations will place duties on both social and private landlords to investigate reports of damp and mould and commence any required repairs within set timescales. Engagement has been ongoing with stakeholders across the rented sector. Officials were keen to emphasise that striking a balance between the health of tenants and the risks to the supply of private rentals had been key to the policy development process.

A discussion then followed on Awaab’s Law, in which the following key points were raised:

• members felt that clear guidance will be required for scenarios in which mould and damp cannot feasibly be remediated within a property due to structural issues, as well as in instances where the cause of the mould is tenant behaviour. Officials agreed that addressing human behaviours would often need to be part of the remedy and that landlords and tenants will often need to work together to tackle mould and damp; guidance will seek to encourage a co-operative relationship.
• effective communication with all relevant stakeholders was viewed by members as a priority. Tenants are often unaware of their existing rights, and many landlords will have no engagement with the representative bodies/letting agents which have engaged with officials, and will be unaware that a change to the legal framework is in development. Officials agreed that the small landlords who had not engaged were the priority for future communication, alongside tenants. Clarifying who is responsible for informing tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities was suggested as an area for officials to work on. It was also recommended by members that officials investigate current guidance on damp/mould prevention provided to social housing tenants by social landlords to see where pre-existing advice could be applied across the rental sector.
• the use of pre-existing standards for damp and mould was highlighted as an avenue to explore; officials agreed to discuss this with the British Standards Institute (BSI).
• the definitions of ‘competent person’ and ‘reasonable opinion’ will need to be clear in guidance and communicated to landlords, to ensure compliance.
• members felt that thought needs to continue to be given to the sequencing of these regulations with regard to other upcoming policies with an impact on housing, noting the RRG’s prior work on sequencing in this policy area. It was perceived by members that there is a risk that the cumulative impact of regulation in the pipeline could drive landlords out of the sector.

It was agreed that the RRG will write to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing with recommendations.

SAFER Programme

Geoff Ogle, CEO of Food Standards Scotland, presented members with an overview of the Scottish Authorities Food Enforcement Rebuild (SAFER) programme. The programme aims to reform and modernise the delivery of food law in Scotland, as part of Public Service Reform.

A number of members noted that they and the organisations they represent sit on the programme board for the SAFER programme. A discussion then followed in which the following points were made:

• there is a need for all policy teams working on policies with a potential impact on the retail, hospitality and food/drink sectors to co-ordinate the sequencing of their policies to mitigate against any negative cumulative impact.
• thought needs to be given on the potential for any increased business costs being passed on to consumers, and the need to mitigate against the impact on the least well-off. Linked to this, any new system needs to work for both large and small businesses – as small businesses make up the majority of Scotland’s business base.

The RRG thanked Geoff for his time and recommended continued engagement with the group as the work of the programme continues.

Next Steps/AOB

Due to time constraints, a planned discussion on the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 Licensing Review was postponed until the next meeting of the group, which will be held virtually on 24 March.