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Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011

17 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Bill

Johnstone, Alex Con North East Scotland Watch on SPTV

The Conservatives support and will vote for the bill.

Going through the process has been interesting and certain aspects of today’s procedures have been particularly interesting. We have before us legislation that has been arrived at through a particular route. Of course, the Conservatives opposed the last-minute introduction of landlord registration schemes in the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Bill in 2004, because we believed that there had been no proper consultation at that time, and the provisions focused on creating good tenants rather than on improving the landlord-tenant relationship. However, we believe that progress has been made by the means that have been used. We need to ensure that the landlord registration scheme does not simply become a tax on landlords who provide good accommodation and service, but eliminates bad practice from the sector. Again, we have made significant progress on that today.

As the minister said, at stage 2 David McLetchie took the opportunity to lodge amendments that amended the Land Tenure Reform (Scotland) Act 1974 in relation to the 20-year rule—that is, the restriction on residential leases of more than 20 years and the right to redeem heritable securities after 20 years. The approach will allow ministers, by order, to prescribe bodies for whom the rules are relaxed, which is a vital step forward in the provision of effective housing.

HMO licensing became central to our consideration at stage 2, as it was at stage 3. I apologise for frightening a few horses at stage 2. In a discussion with Ted Brocklebank, I had agreed to ensure that HMO density was properly discussed at stage 2, so I lodged an amendment that was designed to ensure that the matter was discussed. My objective was not to require planning permission for all HMOs but to get the issue on the agenda. I apologise to anyone whom I frightened—I replied to their e-mails.

The objective was achieved. I withdrew the amendment that I had lodged at stage 2 and, after negotiation, Ted Brocklebank was able to lodge amendment 15 at stage 3. The amendment’s being agreed to has resulted in a change to the bill that I hope will deal with the problem that Ted Brocklebank identified in St Andrews, which I know exists and requires to be addressed in other areas of Scotland.

Today’s proceedings have been particularly interesting. During the past few days, the Parliament has considered a number of bills at stage 3 and very few amendments have come to a vote. We voted on an amendment today only to discover that it had been agreed to with 119 votes for and none against. I congratulate Pauline McNeill, who moved the unopposed amendment 1, and Ted Brocklebank, on their clever and astute political activity in recent days. The outcome demonstrates that if a person has experience of parliamentary procedure and works the system to their advantage, they can get their way—even if many members were surprised at just how close to the wire the voting went.

I pay tribute to Ted Brocklebank and hope that amendment 15 will serve as a memorial to his time in the Parliament. It will not be the only one; he has contributed a great deal during his time here, particularly on fisheries, his knowledge of which was valuable to us.

I say to all members who, like me, have dragged themselves around various housing organisations in recent weeks to do pre-election hustings, that many people out there think that we spend all our time fighting and arguing. My experience in the Local Government and Communities Committee, my experience during the passage of several bills in recent months and my experience of working with the minister indicate to me that, although we might have different ideas, we have the same objective. I hope that that will continue in the next session of the Parliament.

16:03

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Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011

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