Meeting of the Parliament 30 September 2025
The cabinet secretary seems to be saying that amendments 309 to 312 and 329 are not required, because the bill will require that landlords adopt a domestic abuse policy and that the rights set out in the amendments are likely to be included in such policies. Of course, those specific rights might be included, but they also might not be.
The purpose of those amendments is—as, indeed, the purpose of the bill should be—to ensure that those rights are definitely in law and that we are not reliant on individual social landlords up and down Scotland to develop their own policies that might or might not include them.
I very much hope that the amendments will be agreed to today, or that social landlords are listening and that they will ensure that such rights are put into any policies that are developed, because we have to ensure that individual tenants who are subjected to domestic abuse have those protections.
I welcome the fact that the cabinet secretary will come forward with regulations by Christmas to deal with what is in the first part of my amendment 328. She has indicated that she might have concerns about the second part of it and that she plans to come forward with regulations relating to the points that it raises. I would be grateful if I received an assurance from the cabinet secretary that she has the statutory basis for doing that and that the regulations will fully encompass the points that are being raised.
15:30We need the law and the policy to give the necessary protections to those who stay at home when they are subjected to domestic abuse as well as to those who decide that they have to leave. The cabinet secretary has stated on a number of occasions, including in writing to me, that the Scottish Government’s position is that victims should have protections to be able to stay. Equally, we need to ensure that we have the housing rights in place for situations where victims who have been subjected to domestic abuse feel, for whatever reason, that they have to leave.
That is the scenario that amendment 328 attempts to deal with. It has been drafted to address a gap in the law that has been highlighted by many social landlords, many campaigners on the rights of women who have been subjected to domestic abuse, and those who work in the housing sector. I urge the cabinet secretary to look at the matter again. She has said that she will not be able to support the amendment, but I hope that, in any process, she will ensure that there are no gaps, because that is the issue that is being brought to me and many other members. My concern is that, because of the way in which the bill is drafted, it will not enable us to close all the gaps that clearly exist for women who are in this situation.