Meeting of the Parliament 16 March 2016
Thank you, Presiding Officer. I will be very brief.
I, too, am very pleased that equalities and other human rights issues have been included in part 5. I am particularly pleased that they are being made so clear on the face on the bill. Human rights issues will now underpin a whole range of sections to such an extent that, in any decision in future, we will have to be mindful of considerations that are wider than property rights.
I am also very reassured by and grateful for the inclusion of the community engagement issue. At stage 2, the minister said that that issue would be considered, and it is exceptionally useful that community engagement will be a criterion for part 5 applications.
I stick with my original view on repeat applications being unsafe. I was persuaded of that at stage 2; there might well be people in the chamber who have heard of the situation, but I call in evidence the Castle Toward case, where there have, I think, been three applications over a five-year period. That would have been a problem had the provision in Mr Fergusson’s amendment been in place and the bill itself used.
I am also reassured on the issue of viable units. As long as ministers are very clear that the issue will be kept in mind in the consideration of part 5 applications, we will be going in the right direction.
In any case, if the minister has managed to persuade Claudia Beamish, he must have been able to persuade me. I will not press amendment 7.
Amendment 7, by agreement, withdrawn.
Amendment 107 moved—[Alex Fergusson].