Jackie Baillie has written to both the Minister for Victims and Community Safety and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service asking that urgent action is taken to ensure that Helensburgh Fire Station is safe after Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (RAAC) was discovered within the building.

In a report to the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee almost a year ago, information was published confirming that Helensburgh Fire Station had been identified as requiring urgent capital maintenance due to having a flat roof constructed from Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC). The estimated cost of addressing this is over £7million.

The Dumbarton constituency MSP asked a series of Parliamentary Questions earlier this year asking for clarity over the safety of the building.

This comes as 156 schools across England were identified as having RAAC and, of them, 52 were at risk of sudden collapse with around 24 believed to have had to close with urgent contingency plans being sought. There are 34 schools in Scotland with RAAC but the Scottish Government is so far refusing to publish information. Although it is understood that John Logie Baird Primary School is affected.

The Parliamentary Question responses from the then Minister for Community Safety, Elena Whitham, stated that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service would be working with partner agencies to explore the potential to share services, particularly where fire stations were requiring significant capital maintenance due to defective RAAC.

Helensburgh Fire Station, along with the 13 other SFRS stations with RAAC remain subject to quarterly inspections to monitor their condition and any further signs of deterioration.

Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton constituency MSP, said: “It is incredibly concerning that schools in England have been forced to close at such short notice.

“The same material which is forcing these closures has been identified in buildings across Scotland including at Helensburgh Fire Station and John Logie Baird Primary School. The SNP Government needs to be robust in its response and provide cast iron guarantees that buildings with confirmed RAAC are indeed safe and, if they are not, to take urgent measures to provide suitable alternative accommodation.

“We need to ensure that the safety of both staff, pupils and the wider community is the paramount consideration.”