Meeting of the Parliament 23 September 2025 [Draft]
First, it is not necessary to do so. The work is well under way—it is well progressed. A range of experts have been involved in its formulation and the work will progress to its conclusion without statutory underpinning. A secondary reason is that there is a degree of flexibility that comes with guidance and a degree of rigidity that comes with primary legislation. Therefore, as it is not necessary, it would not be right to go down that road.
I will just cover some of the concerns that have been raised about affordability. This is a complex issue; affordability is very difficult to define. It will arise very differently for different students across the board. Moreover, rental costs in PBSA include more than just rent. As I made clear previously, I am open to working with members, representatives of the sector and students to look at long-term solutions on affordability. In particular, I commit to work on that with Ross Greer and Pam Duncan-Glancy, who have raised such matters with me.
I will move to the final amendments in the group, before allowing others to come in. Amendment 374 relates to complaints procedures for student tenants. As far as I can see, having looked at the provision, robust processes are already in place. However, I accept, as the review group did, that those processes can be complicated to navigate, particularly given that different processes are in place for private PBSA and university halls of residence. Detailed guidance is being developed on which process to follow, who to contact and what to expect if a complaint is made, and the guidance will be included in the information that is provided to students. Given the collaborative and well-developed work that is on-going with the sector and with students, I ask Ross Greer not to move those amendments.
For those reasons, in respect of this group of amendments as a whole, I urge members to support my amendments 123, 124 and 137 and Pam Duncan-Glancy’s amendments 105 and 116, and to reject the other amendments in the group.
I move amendment 123.