Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011
17 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Bill
I offer my best wishes to Ted Brocklebank for all that he has done, particularly today. He said that his closing speech will probably be his last contribution; we should all remember that this could be our last contribution. I am glad to hear that he is a registered landlord.
The debate has been very consensual—or at least that is what I was going to say until I heard Bob Doris. His speech was probably fairly light for him, but I realised when he got to his final sentence that he was not serious after all, so I will not comment further.
I must say how grateful I am to fellow committee members for the way in which we have been able to progress not only this piece of legislation but others that have gone before. I thank the committee clerks, who have been ever helpful, and the minister and his officials for the way in which they have supported us through the bill process. We have had two gos at getting to this stage, as other members have mentioned, but I hope that what we have finally arrived at will deliver on our intentions. Finally, I thank those who provided oral and written evidence to the committee, as it was thorough and clearly guided us as to how we should act.
The minister and others, such as Anne McLaughlin and Patricia Ferguson, referred to the very many good landlords who operate throughout Scotland, and I associate myself with those remarks. It is true that the majority of landlords act responsibly but, unfortunately, as we know from our casework and from the examples that we heard about in evidence, there are others who do not. That is why the bill was necessary.
The minister’s establishment of the private rented sector strategy group was welcome, and I think that it was the right thing to do to ensure that we got a broad range of opinions on how we could further improve the private rented sector. I notice that he said that he intended to continue with the group, and I approve of that, but I wonder whether he might also want to support some of the suggestions that Shelter made in its briefing. It suggested that there should be a review of the short assured tenancy regime, and I have some sympathy with that; I wonder whether the minister and others do, too. It is important that we have a scheme that delivers for tenants and for landlords, and it may be that there is a need for an assessment of short assured tenancies.
I support Shelter’s proposal for the development of a new approach to providing tenants with information and advice. Earlier, I mentioned the information pack that will be available. It is important that tenants and landlords are fully informed of their roles, and the rights and responsibilities that they have in playing those roles. More work could be done on that.
Alex Johnstone was in repentant mood. He willingly confessed that the Conservatives had opposed landlord registration in the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Bill, but he can rest assured that there is much rejoicing in heaven for every repentant sinner who sees the error of their ways. I am pleased that he thinks that the bill before us provides a better way of ensuring that registration for landlords is enacted appropriately.
Alex Johnstone also confessed that he thought that he might have scared us with his amendments at stage 2, but it takes much more than that to scare Labour members. I think that those amendments led to today’s amendment 15, in the name of Mr Brocklebank, which the Parliament agreed to unanimously, so Mr Johnstone was headed in the right direction.
Patricia Ferguson reminded us that it has taken us a while to get here. The Housing (Scotland) Bill originally contained an attempt to tackle the private rented sector. At the time, I was quite critical of the minister for withdrawing the relevant provisions from that bill, because I was concerned that we would not get to the stage that we have reached today. I shared Charlie Gordon’s concerns, so I am pleased that we have got to this stage.
John Wilson mentioned the campaigns that led to the Parliament considering some of the difficulties that people have to live with. We should all recognise the benefits of the Public Petitions Committee, which introduced us to issues such as overcrowding, in particular, and I hope that the measures that will be agreed to at decision time will make a difference. It is to the Parliament’s credit that we have responded to the petition on that. John Wilson suggested that there needs to be guidance on hard-wired fire alarms, and I support that suggestion.
Charlie Gordon mentioned the issue of letting agents, which we may need to come back to in the future. I hope that the minister agrees that further work needs to be done on that. I heard recently about work that is being done on letting agents south of the border and, as someone who is always willing to learn a lesson, wherever it comes from, I think that we should consider the measures that are proposed there.
I believe that the bill will move us on and that the measures that it proposes are good. I suspect that further measures may still need to be taken, but I am sure that the Parliament will return to those in good time. My final request to the minister is to ensure that the measures that the bill contains are implemented quickly. We referred today to measures from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, which are not due to come into effect until August of this year—five years later, which is an awfully long time. People within the private rented sector deserve to have the bits of legislation that we are agreeing to today enacted more quickly.
I am pleased that we accepted all today’s amendments, particularly those in the name of Pauline McNeill. I was accused yesterday of doing U-turns. I say to the minister that his was the fastest U-turn that I have seen in a long time, but it is much appreciated. On that consensual note, I welcome the bill.
The debate has been very consensual—or at least that is what I was going to say until I heard Bob Doris. His speech was probably fairly light for him, but I realised when he got to his final sentence that he was not serious after all, so I will not comment further.
I must say how grateful I am to fellow committee members for the way in which we have been able to progress not only this piece of legislation but others that have gone before. I thank the committee clerks, who have been ever helpful, and the minister and his officials for the way in which they have supported us through the bill process. We have had two gos at getting to this stage, as other members have mentioned, but I hope that what we have finally arrived at will deliver on our intentions. Finally, I thank those who provided oral and written evidence to the committee, as it was thorough and clearly guided us as to how we should act.
The minister and others, such as Anne McLaughlin and Patricia Ferguson, referred to the very many good landlords who operate throughout Scotland, and I associate myself with those remarks. It is true that the majority of landlords act responsibly but, unfortunately, as we know from our casework and from the examples that we heard about in evidence, there are others who do not. That is why the bill was necessary.
The minister’s establishment of the private rented sector strategy group was welcome, and I think that it was the right thing to do to ensure that we got a broad range of opinions on how we could further improve the private rented sector. I notice that he said that he intended to continue with the group, and I approve of that, but I wonder whether he might also want to support some of the suggestions that Shelter made in its briefing. It suggested that there should be a review of the short assured tenancy regime, and I have some sympathy with that; I wonder whether the minister and others do, too. It is important that we have a scheme that delivers for tenants and for landlords, and it may be that there is a need for an assessment of short assured tenancies.
I support Shelter’s proposal for the development of a new approach to providing tenants with information and advice. Earlier, I mentioned the information pack that will be available. It is important that tenants and landlords are fully informed of their roles, and the rights and responsibilities that they have in playing those roles. More work could be done on that.
Alex Johnstone was in repentant mood. He willingly confessed that the Conservatives had opposed landlord registration in the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Bill, but he can rest assured that there is much rejoicing in heaven for every repentant sinner who sees the error of their ways. I am pleased that he thinks that the bill before us provides a better way of ensuring that registration for landlords is enacted appropriately.
Alex Johnstone also confessed that he thought that he might have scared us with his amendments at stage 2, but it takes much more than that to scare Labour members. I think that those amendments led to today’s amendment 15, in the name of Mr Brocklebank, which the Parliament agreed to unanimously, so Mr Johnstone was headed in the right direction.
Patricia Ferguson reminded us that it has taken us a while to get here. The Housing (Scotland) Bill originally contained an attempt to tackle the private rented sector. At the time, I was quite critical of the minister for withdrawing the relevant provisions from that bill, because I was concerned that we would not get to the stage that we have reached today. I shared Charlie Gordon’s concerns, so I am pleased that we have got to this stage.
John Wilson mentioned the campaigns that led to the Parliament considering some of the difficulties that people have to live with. We should all recognise the benefits of the Public Petitions Committee, which introduced us to issues such as overcrowding, in particular, and I hope that the measures that will be agreed to at decision time will make a difference. It is to the Parliament’s credit that we have responded to the petition on that. John Wilson suggested that there needs to be guidance on hard-wired fire alarms, and I support that suggestion.
Charlie Gordon mentioned the issue of letting agents, which we may need to come back to in the future. I hope that the minister agrees that further work needs to be done on that. I heard recently about work that is being done on letting agents south of the border and, as someone who is always willing to learn a lesson, wherever it comes from, I think that we should consider the measures that are proposed there.
I believe that the bill will move us on and that the measures that it proposes are good. I suspect that further measures may still need to be taken, but I am sure that the Parliament will return to those in good time. My final request to the minister is to ensure that the measures that the bill contains are implemented quickly. We referred today to measures from the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, which are not due to come into effect until August of this year—five years later, which is an awfully long time. People within the private rented sector deserve to have the bits of legislation that we are agreeing to today enacted more quickly.
I am pleased that we accepted all today’s amendments, particularly those in the name of Pauline McNeill. I was accused yesterday of doing U-turns. I say to the minister that his was the fastest U-turn that I have seen in a long time, but it is much appreciated. On that consensual note, I welcome the bill.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Alasdair Morgan)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-8128, in the name of Alex Neil, on the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Bill.15:45
The Minister for Housing and Communities (Alex Neil)
SNP
I am pleased to open the debate and to move the motion in my name.I thank the Local Government and Communities Committee for its detailed consideration of th...
Tricia Marwick (Central Fife) (SNP)
SNP
Will the minister assure the chamber that the powers that the bill establishes will force local authorities to act when private landlords do not live up to t...
Alex Neil
SNP
I agree with Tricia Marwick that enforcement is crucial. The powers are now well in place and I believe that the local authorities have the tools to do the j...
Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab)
Lab
I am sure that I am not the only one who feels a sense of achievement when we reach stage 3 of a bill, and that is especially true when one has been particul...
Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
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 parti...
Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD)
LD
I thank my colleagues on the Local Government and Communities Committee, the committee clerks, the bill team and the minister for their hard work and dedicat...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We now move to the open debate.16:07
Anne McLaughlin (Glasgow) (SNP)
SNP
Sometimes it might seem to people as if we in this Parliament are navel gazing or talking only to ourselves, but nothing could be further from the truth. Thi...
Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab)
Lab
Although the bill is one of the last that we shall consider in this session of the Parliament, its gestation has been fairly long. Most of its provisions wer...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
It was a privilege to be a member of the committee that examined the bill. It was clear that not all local authorities have taken a vigorous approach to land...
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution. In the stage 1 debate I spoke exclusively on the rogue landlord aspects of the bill, given the antiso...
Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP)
SNP
I start by saying something that I think that we all agree on: the private rented sector must become increasingly important in the provision of good-quality,...
Jim Tolson
LD
One principal element of the bill is the measures on the registration of private landlords. Alex Neil said that the bill is targeted at a minority of landlor...
Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
In winding up for the Conservatives today, I begin what will possibly be my final contribution in this place by saying how grateful I am for the kind words o...
Alex Neil
SNP
Can the member confirm that he is registered? Laughter.
Ted Brocklebank
Con
Absolutely, as the minister will discover if he checks the register of landlords.However, there have been problems. Pauline McNeill and Patricia Ferguson all...
Mary Mulligan
Lab
I offer my best wishes to Ted Brocklebank for all that he has done, particularly today. He said that his closing speech will probably be his last contributio...
The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson)
NPA
Given Patricia Ferguson’s earlier warning about what Alex Neil is capable of doing in an empty house, I am a little bit loth to let him loose on a fairly emp...
Alex Neil
SNP
I am delighted that Mary Mulligan is confident that I am going to be the minister moving the commencement order after the election.Earlier, when we were disc...
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Michael Russell)
SNP
Indeed.
Alex Neil
SNP
This has been a consensual debate, with good contributions from throughout the chamber. It is appropriate that it has been consensual, because the issue that...
Bob Doris
SNP
I just want to add to the list the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Act 2010, under which all evictions for mortgage arrears must call in court, w...
Alex Neil
SNP
That is a good point from Mr Doris. I am always one to undersell our achievements. Laughter. The legislation is extremely important, but it is also importan...
Patricia Ferguson
Lab
Does the minister accept that the issue is not just the location of the judgment but the courts having an understanding of the effects that behaviour can hav...
Alex Neil
SNP
Absolutely. My view is that some kind of tribunal system may be more appropriate, certainly in some circumstances, than a case immediately going to the sheri...