Meeting of the Parliament 30 September 2025
I am very happy to give that assurance to Kevin Stewart, because I know the import that he places on those matters. I hope that he, and other members, see that I have a similar objective.
The second part of Katy Clark’s amendment 328 is unworkable, so I cannot support it. However, further to Mr Stewart’s intervention, I assure members that I will continue to consider the contract law and other matters that are at play here. I also offer assurance to members that the bill takes us a significant step forward in respect of the protection of the housing rights of people who are suffering abuse, not least through the existing provision in the bill that allows for the ending of a joint tenancy—crucially, with the landlord’s consent—but also through my commitment to implementing part 2 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021, which will provide that a social tenant who is a victim of abuse can stay in her home and have the perpetrator removed.
Amendment 329, in the name of Katy Clark, would require social landlords, as part of their domestic abuse policies, to consider writing off a tenant’s rent arrears due to domestic abuse. I am pleased to say that the bill already has provisions in sections 44 and 45 for social landlords to support tenants in that way. Section 45 requires social landlords to have a domestic abuse policy that includes a description of the action that must be taken in relation to the needs of a tenant in those circumstances.
I will support amendment 111, in the name of Meghan Gallacher, on the Scottish social housing charter, as it will bolster the support that we offer to tenants who are suffering from domestic abuse.
Amendment 17, in the name of Maggie Chapman, would oblige ministers to prepare and publish a timetable for implementing the December 2020 report entitled, “Improving housing outcomes for women and children experiencing domestic abuse”. I would have liked to accept the amendment, because we are already implementing parts of that report. However, I am afraid that there are parts of the report that I cannot commit to implementing today. For example, one of the provisions is that legal advice should be freely available in the case of someone who is suffering domestic abuse. The Scottish Legal Aid Board already provides legal advice, but the question of whether it is free is determined according to whether the individual can afford to pay. Therefore, although I place great priority on protecting the housing rights of women and children, I cannot accept amendment 17.