Hansard

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Alasdair Morgan) SNP

The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-7531, in the name of Patricia Ferguson, on the Property Factors (Scotland) Bill. Time is fairly tight for...

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab) Lab

I am pleased that we are debating the Local Government and Communities Committee’s stage 1 report on the Property Factors (Scotland) Bill, and I would like t...

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab) Lab

I am pleased to be taking part in the debate as convener of the Local Government and Communities Committee. We were the lead committee that looked at Patrici...

The Minister for Housing and Communities (Alex Neil) SNP

I welcome the opportunity to debate the Property Factors (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to the Parliament by Patricia Ferguson. The Government recogni...

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab) Lab

I, too, am pleased to take part in the stage 1 debate on the Property Factors (Scotland) Bill. I congratulate Patricia Ferguson on getting the bill to this s...

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con) Con

Like other members, I congratulate Patricia Ferguson, the bill’s sponsor, on her persistence and dedication in bringing this measure to Parliament and, I mig...

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD) LD

The Liberal Democrats welcome the member’s bill that Patricia Ferguson has introduced and offer our congratulations to her. I also congratulate the clerks, w...

Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP) SNP

I, too, congratulate Patricia Ferguson and thank her for introducing the bill. As one of the original signatories to the bill proposal, I am pleased to speak...

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab) Lab

Like other members, I congratulate Patricia Ferguson on introducing her bill and getting it to stage 1. She should be commended for her hard work and diligen...

Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

Stage 1 is an important staging post in assessing the many issues that are the origin of the bill. I pay tribute to Patricia Ferguson for the methodical mann...

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD) LD

Does Elizabeth Smith accept that clarity on the point that she has just raised might make it easier for some people to accept liability for payments, and not...

Elizabeth Smith Con

Mr Brown makes a valid point, and I and the Conservative party in general accept it. It is a strong message in the bill.The relationship between the property...

Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP) SNP

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Property Factors (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. I thank Patricia Ferguson for introducing the bill, and I thank my fel...

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab) Lab

Factoring is an enormous issue in the new-build flats in my constituency, albeit not in the traditional tenements, which in Edinburgh have never had factors....

Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee West) (SNP) SNP

I echo others in the chamber in congratulating Patricia Ferguson on the bill, which touches on a subject that is of great concern to many of our constituents...

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD) LD

On behalf of the Liberal Democrats, I praise Patricia Ferguson for introducing the bill and for the manner in which she has done so. Although this debate wil...

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con) Con

The debate that we have had today and the process that led us to it form a good example of the Parliament at its best. I only wonder why it has taken us so l...

Mary Mulligan Lab

This has been an excellent debate in which all members have made quite heartfelt pleas for legislation. That is not always the case in this chamber.As Jim To...

Alex Neil SNP

This debate on the principles of the bill and the issues that are to be addressed at stage 2 has been good and consensual. I congratulate Patricia Ferguson a...

David McLetchie Con

In relation to those figures—£2,000 a case and 220 cases a year for the private rented housing panel—is the minister convinced that the panel provides value ...

Alex Neil SNP

The reality is that it is quasi-judicial. As Mr McLetchie will know, anything that is judicial, and particularly anything that involves lawyers, can be extre...

Robert Brown LD

Will the minister take a further brief intervention on that?

Alex Neil SNP

Of course, from another lawyer. Are they going to declare an interest, Presiding Officer?

Robert Brown LD

The issue is about the need to have at the end of the process an enforceable order so that everybody knows where they stand. It is a judicial process and it ...

Alex Neil SNP

The enforceable order would be the responsibility of other authorities and not necessarily the panel or ombudsman. My point is that there are a great deal of...

Patricia Ferguson Lab

I very much welcome the content and tone of the debate. I will try to respond as best I can to the issues that members have raised. The debate has demonstrat...

Malcolm Chisholm Lab

At the recent meeting that I referred to, it seemed that a large number of people were paying 35 per cent commission to factors for their insurance.

Patricia Ferguson Lab

I would not dispute that. I have heard a variety of figures mentioned. I have also heard about what, in the trade, are loosely called gentlemen’s agreements,...