Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011
17 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Bill
Absolutely, as the minister will discover if he checks the register of landlords.
However, there have been problems. Pauline McNeill and Patricia Ferguson alluded to some of them, and I mentioned particular problems in relation to the overconcentration of HMOs in some areas and the apparent lack of courage of certain local authorities to use existing legislation to resolve those problems. At least as a result of today’s business—and we leave it very much up to the local authorities—there will be no excuse that they didnae ken: it is there in the text of the bill.
Following the housing minister’s personal endorsement, I firmly believe that new section 131A of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, which comes into effect in August and will give local authorities the power to end ghettos of HMOs in our towns and cities, will be referred to by future generations as the Brocklebank amendment, much as John Sewel gave his name to Sewel motions and Joel Barnett gave his to his famous formula, with its consequentials et al. For once, if only in my home town, I may at last be regarded as not a total waste of space.
I crave your indulgence, Presiding Officer, and wonder if I might make a few valedictory remarks. I offer genuine thanks to colleagues from all parties who supported my amendment today, and who have made my time in this place such a genuinely pleasurable experience.
Dammit, I’ve enjoyed learning about public transport in Lower Westphalia from Chris Harvie; Stewart Stevenson has enthralled me with the load of learned lumber contained in that remarkable head of his; and when it comes to plucking on the heartstrings, nobody does it better than the coal miner’s daughter, Helen Eadie. But there are also some fairly impressive performers in this place—mostly, I have to say, on the benches around me, as members would imagine, but also from other parties. They know who they are, and I am going to miss them.
As a born poacher rather than a gamekeeper, it will be good to shake off the shackles and the whips and speak my mind again, not least on such subjects as the common fisheries policy, on which my views have changed not one iota in eight years, the future of the media in Scotland and—particularly close to my heart these days—that warmest of sub-Saharan African countries, Malawi.
Since he believes that I never give him the credit that he is due, I pay a final and public tribute to my loyal chief of staff—that is his chosen job title—Dominic Heslop. His name will appear in the Official Report at long last.
In what is likely to be my final utterance in this place, I venture the hope—to paraphrase Fu Manchu—that the wider world of Scottish politics may not yet have heard the last of me. But that is for another day. In whatever capacity I find myself after next Tuesday, I will continue to take a very close and personal interest in this place.
Thanks for the memories—it’s been a ball. [Applause.]
16:37
However, there have been problems. Pauline McNeill and Patricia Ferguson alluded to some of them, and I mentioned particular problems in relation to the overconcentration of HMOs in some areas and the apparent lack of courage of certain local authorities to use existing legislation to resolve those problems. At least as a result of today’s business—and we leave it very much up to the local authorities—there will be no excuse that they didnae ken: it is there in the text of the bill.
Following the housing minister’s personal endorsement, I firmly believe that new section 131A of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, which comes into effect in August and will give local authorities the power to end ghettos of HMOs in our towns and cities, will be referred to by future generations as the Brocklebank amendment, much as John Sewel gave his name to Sewel motions and Joel Barnett gave his to his famous formula, with its consequentials et al. For once, if only in my home town, I may at last be regarded as not a total waste of space.
I crave your indulgence, Presiding Officer, and wonder if I might make a few valedictory remarks. I offer genuine thanks to colleagues from all parties who supported my amendment today, and who have made my time in this place such a genuinely pleasurable experience.
Dammit, I’ve enjoyed learning about public transport in Lower Westphalia from Chris Harvie; Stewart Stevenson has enthralled me with the load of learned lumber contained in that remarkable head of his; and when it comes to plucking on the heartstrings, nobody does it better than the coal miner’s daughter, Helen Eadie. But there are also some fairly impressive performers in this place—mostly, I have to say, on the benches around me, as members would imagine, but also from other parties. They know who they are, and I am going to miss them.
As a born poacher rather than a gamekeeper, it will be good to shake off the shackles and the whips and speak my mind again, not least on such subjects as the common fisheries policy, on which my views have changed not one iota in eight years, the future of the media in Scotland and—particularly close to my heart these days—that warmest of sub-Saharan African countries, Malawi.
Since he believes that I never give him the credit that he is due, I pay a final and public tribute to my loyal chief of staff—that is his chosen job title—Dominic Heslop. His name will appear in the Official Report at long last.
In what is likely to be my final utterance in this place, I venture the hope—to paraphrase Fu Manchu—that the wider world of Scottish politics may not yet have heard the last of me. But that is for another day. In whatever capacity I find myself after next Tuesday, I will continue to take a very close and personal interest in this place.
Thanks for the memories—it’s been a ball. [Applause.]
16:37
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...