Committee
Local Government and Regeneration Committee 18 March 2015
18 Mar 2015 · S4 · Local Government and Regeneration Committee
Item of business
Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
I thank the members who have lodged amendments. I have heard a lot that I can agree with. The Scottish Government is extremely supportive of supporter involvement and ownership, and that is something that we can endorse as an aim. We have already convened a working group under Stephen Morrow, bringing together supporters groups, the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Professional Football League to construct a consensus way forward. I can personally relate to the issue. It is not something that is widely known, but the team that I followed in my youth had financial issues, bad management and bankruptcy, and it plummeted four divisions and ended up having to reregister under a different name. Before you assume what club that was, let me tell you that it was the serie A club Fiorentina, which shows that such financial problems can happen in a wide range of contexts and countries and that it is an issue that many football leagues have to grapple with. On reflection, and in consultation with colleagues, we are convinced that legislation could be helpful in ensuring that this aim is advanced. Therefore, it would be our intention at stage 3 to introduce amendments to allow much of this to be achieved mainly by regulations, but with an explicit reference in the bill to achieving the aim. That would allow us to consult and to co-produce the detail of the regulations with supporters groups, ensuring that we have a system that does not just express the principle and express sympathy but which could actually work. There are a number of issues with the approach that is taken by the amendments both in detail and in principle. Stewart Stevenson has already brought some of his financial and company law expertise to bear on the detail, and I presume that he has been able to see the amendments only for the past few days. They are complex amendments, almost amounting to a new bill that, if it were to be introduced as a bill, would probably go either to the Health and Sport Committee or, because it concerns the right to buy, to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee. In making such big changes to a bill, we need to afford due opportunities for parliamentary scrutiny by other subject committees, as well as the opportunity for widespread public consultation. The Scottish Government has not been able to consult directly on the amendments in the way that we would normally consult on proposals if we were going to legislate on anything.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Kevin Stewart)
SNP
Good morning, and welcome to the 10th meeting in 2015 of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee. If people wish to use tablets or mobile phones duri...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 1084, in the name of the minister, is in a group on its own.
The Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment (Marco Biagi)
SNP
Amendment 1084 responds to the committee’s recommendation to review the legislation relating to Forestry Commission Scotland leasing land to communities for ...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 1231, in the name of Alison Johnstone, is grouped with amendments 1232 to 1248.
Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
I thank the committee for its time today, and I thank the convener for agreeing that this important issue should be considered at stage 2. I know that you ha...
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
I do not seek to pick at the underlying principle of this group of amendments, but I seek information about the implementation of that principle. I will s...
Cameron Buchanan (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I, too, am concerned about the technicalities of the bill, legal and otherwise. We discussed the issue at our group meeting, but I would have liked more time...
Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Alison Johnstone for the amendments, which I am broadly supportive of. When Alison sums up, I wonder whether she might give us a little bit more clar...
Alex Rowley (Cowdenbeath) (Lab)
Lab
I support the amendments. I should say that I am a Kelty Hearts Junior Football Club supporter, but no matter what team people support, if they go regularly ...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
I also want to speak in support of amendment 1231, in the name of Alison Johnstone, and in favour of all the amendments in the group. This is about extending...
Stewart Stevenson
SNP
Will Mr Macintosh take an intervention?
Ken Macintosh
Lab
I will.
Stewart Stevenson
SNP
Would you be sympathetic to the idea that we should extend the provision to the Highland league?
Ken Macintosh
Lab
I am delighted that Stewart Stevenson wants to build on the amendments in this group before we have even accepted them, but I think that we should take it on...
Marco Biagi
SNP
I thank the members who have lodged amendments. I have heard a lot that I can agree with. The Scottish Government is extremely supportive of supporter involv...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (Ind)
Ind
Could the minister give me a clear steer on whether he is minded not to accept the amendments today, or whether he is minded to accept them on the basis that...
Marco Biagi
SNP
Can I perhaps get to that? I was working towards it but, at this point, I want to highlight the issues with the detail. If the amendments were agreed to, the...
John Wilson
Ind
As I understand it, the grounds that some clubs use are owned by the local authorities, so there is already local authority ownership of football grounds in ...
Marco Biagi
SNP
I apologise for my slightly irreverent aside about local authority ownership of stadia in Italy. The point that I was aiming at was made effectively by the d...
Alison Johnstone
Green
I would certainly be happy to work with the minister before stage 3, but I am afraid that those commitments do not yet cover the essentials of my proposal. I...
Marco Biagi
SNP
Those are sentiments that I think we have all broadly expressed in the committee, and they certainly show a positive approach to supporter ownership that the...
Alison Johnstone
Green
If we agree in principle, and if we are as supportive as we all purport to be, we should support the amendments today and look at the technicalities before s...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 1085, in the name of the minister, is grouped with amendments 1086, 1249 and 1250.
Marco Biagi
SNP
I was happy to lodge amendments 1085 and 1086 in response to the committee’s recommendations. As you know, the aim of the bill in relation to common good is ...
Cameron Buchanan
Con
I was going to say that amendment 1249 is a probing amendment. It is all very well that Scottish ministers can issue guidance on the management and use of a ...
Marco Biagi
SNP
I am not sure that I understand the distinction that Mr Buchanan is making between policy-based guidance and technical guidance. Policy-based guidance can be...
Cameron Buchanan
Con
I really wanted the minister to explain what form the guidance would take. I am not going to move the amendments in my name; I just want to know what form th...
Marco Biagi
SNP
All guidance is developed in partnership with everyone involved. We know that strong views have been expressed on the management and maintenance of common go...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 1164, in the name of Ken Macintosh, is grouped with amendments 1165 to 1167, 1229, 1168, 1252 and 1230. I draw members’ attention to the informatio...
Ken Macintosh
Lab
I will speak to a number of amendments about allotments on behalf of and with the support of the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society, which is the key or...