Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2012
31 Oct 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc) (Scotland) Bill
I want to express my concerns on the challenging process and the questionable content of the bill.
As a member of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, I have been involved with the progress of this bill from its inception, and I have consistently been disappointed by the lack of compromise on the part of the Scottish National Party Government at each stage. Not one Labour amendment has been accepted during the process.
With more than 100,000 empty properties in Scotland, I recognise that there is a serious issue and that the regeneration of these buildings must be a priority. High streets and city centres are too often blighted by derelict buildings, unoccupied properties and abandoned offices. That must be addressed, and I encourage the Scottish Government to invest in our town and city centres in order to tackle that growing problem.
However, a principal aim of the bill is to encourage economic growth and allow our local communities and small businesses to develop. How can that be achieved when councils across Scotland are telling the Scottish Government that they will have to demolish buildings in order to survive the economic implications of this ill-considered bill?
In such a challenging economic environment, the Scottish Government’s proposals fail to take into account the many public bodies that will have either to sell off or to pull down buildings simply to maintain current budgets. The proposals also fail to consider the negative impact that the measures will have on future planning processes, where buildings have been designated for long-term reallocations. Local authorities, health bodies and other public bodies are deeply concerned by the uncertainty and unnecessary challenges that the measures contained within the bill will bring.
Despite that, the Scottish Government continues to claim that the bill will have a positive impact on our fragile economy and somehow encourage growth in our town and city centres. The bizarre belief that charging small businesses and public bodies more for disused buildings will result in fewer unoccupied properties is both misinformed and unfounded. The assertion that the measures will generate much-needed funds for the public purse is shamefully short-sighted, given that the Scottish Property Federation has estimated that around 20 per cent of the additional revenue generated by the bill will come directly from public bodies.
The Scottish Government has consistently sidelined the concerns of public bodies, small business owners and town planners. It is shameful that there has been such poor-quality dialogue and discussion from the SNP Government and, if passed, the bill will be poorer and substantially less effective as a direct result.
16:46
As a member of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, I have been involved with the progress of this bill from its inception, and I have consistently been disappointed by the lack of compromise on the part of the Scottish National Party Government at each stage. Not one Labour amendment has been accepted during the process.
With more than 100,000 empty properties in Scotland, I recognise that there is a serious issue and that the regeneration of these buildings must be a priority. High streets and city centres are too often blighted by derelict buildings, unoccupied properties and abandoned offices. That must be addressed, and I encourage the Scottish Government to invest in our town and city centres in order to tackle that growing problem.
However, a principal aim of the bill is to encourage economic growth and allow our local communities and small businesses to develop. How can that be achieved when councils across Scotland are telling the Scottish Government that they will have to demolish buildings in order to survive the economic implications of this ill-considered bill?
In such a challenging economic environment, the Scottish Government’s proposals fail to take into account the many public bodies that will have either to sell off or to pull down buildings simply to maintain current budgets. The proposals also fail to consider the negative impact that the measures will have on future planning processes, where buildings have been designated for long-term reallocations. Local authorities, health bodies and other public bodies are deeply concerned by the uncertainty and unnecessary challenges that the measures contained within the bill will bring.
Despite that, the Scottish Government continues to claim that the bill will have a positive impact on our fragile economy and somehow encourage growth in our town and city centres. The bizarre belief that charging small businesses and public bodies more for disused buildings will result in fewer unoccupied properties is both misinformed and unfounded. The assertion that the measures will generate much-needed funds for the public purse is shamefully short-sighted, given that the Scottish Property Federation has estimated that around 20 per cent of the additional revenue generated by the bill will come directly from public bodies.
The Scottish Government has consistently sidelined the concerns of public bodies, small business owners and town planners. It is shameful that there has been such poor-quality dialogue and discussion from the SNP Government and, if passed, the bill will be poorer and substantially less effective as a direct result.
16:46
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-04598, in the name of Derek Mackay, on the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc) (Scotland...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney)
SNP
For the purposes of rule 9.11 of the standing orders, I advise the Parliament that Her Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Local Government F...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Thank you very much, cabinet secretary.We now begin the debate. I call Margaret Burgess to speak to and move the motion in the name of Derek Mackay.16:17
The Minister for Housing and Welfare (Margaret Burgess)
SNP
I am pleased to open the stage 3 debate on the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc) (Scotland) Bill. I thank the Local Government and Regener...
Hanzala Malik (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister consider, under secondary legislation, changing that period of time—for small businesses only—from three months to six months? It is a shor...
Margaret Burgess
SNP
Many of those businesses would be exempt from business rates in any case, but the Minister for Local Government and Planning has said that he will review the...
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I thank those who gave evidence to the committees that dealt with the bill, the organisations that lobbied us, and the committee clerks.From the outset, Labo...
The Minister for Local Government and Planning (Derek Mackay)
SNP
The figures are not true, of course—but even the figure that the Labour Party has conjured up excludes £2.3 billion of non-domestic rates from the local gove...
Sarah Boyack
Lab
The evidence that was presented to the committee and MSPs. There are not only demolitions in the industrial sector; there are demolitions in the commercial s...
Derek Mackay
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Sarah Boyack
Lab
No. I have answered the minister’s question. He asked about the evidence, and I have told him what it is.We have been told—by town centre managers, I think—t...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Sarah Boyack
Lab
No. I want to get on and address the minister’s other point about estimates.Glasgow City Council estimates that, on its own, it will take more than £1 millio...
Derek Mackay
SNP
Sorry. Can the member say that again?
Sarah Boyack
Lab
I will repeat it for the minister’s benefit. The information that was submitted to me by Glasgow City Council is that it alone will have to pay more than £1 ...
Derek Mackay
SNP
I am happy that the member will take my intervention. Perhaps she would like to have another go at citing exactly which evidence she was talking about when s...
Sarah Boyack
Lab
I gave the minister the source: I said that it related to town centre managers. I am sure that that was the reference that we got. I will certainly check the...
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
I cannot pretend that it gives me any pleasure to speak in this stage 3 debate on the Local Government Finance (Unoccupied Properties etc) (Scotland) Bill, w...
Derek Mackay
SNP
In light of what the member has just said, does she have a view on the United Kingdom Government’s intervention on listed properties, which will be exempt fr...
Margaret Mitchell
Con
The UK Government proposals that the minister is talking about are not part of the bill; they are not relevant. What the UK Government is doing is looking at...
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
We now move to the open debate. I remind members that speeches are four minutes. If everybody keeps to their four minutes, it will ensure that everyone who h...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I come to this debate as a relatively new member of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee. I was not a member of the committee when the Local Gover...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
You need to start to bring your remarks to a close.
John Wilson
SNP
Thank you, Presiding Officer. In many ways, the traditional town centre has been losing out as a result of wider societal change, and the challenge is for it...
Anne McTaggart (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I want to express my concerns on the challenging process and the questionable content of the bill.As a member of the Local Government and Regeneration Commit...
George Adam (Paisley) (SNP)
SNP
I am extremely pleased to speak in this debate. I do so not in a cold or academic way, because the town that I represent, and in which I was born, has alread...
Jim Hume (South Scotland) (LD)
LD
The member mentioned that he consulted two children. Did he actually consult any businesses in Paisley regarding empty properties?
George Adam
SNP
Ironically, anyone who had listened earlier would know that our problem in Paisley is trying to retain people because of previous Administrations in Westmins...
Derek Mackay
SNP
Does the member welcome the fact that we consulted businesses on this issue, including the business improvement district steering group, which supports our d...
George Adam
SNP
Yes.We have talked about Mr Hume’s contributions to the debate. We must remember that some organisations take a purely business perspective and do not consid...