Meeting of the Parliament 25 March 2026 [Draft]
I thank Fulton MacGregor for those kind comments. Some of my favourite memories are from those early days when we came to the Parliament together and served on the Justice Committee. He did not do as badly on that run as he thought, but I am glad to hear that he suffered afterwards. [Laughter.]
On Fulton MacGregor’s substantive point and the concerns that he has raised about community right to buy, he is absolutely right. The points that he has made came through loud and clear in the consultation and have been made to me by community groups that have been through the right to buy process—that it has been difficult and cumbersome. Community right to buy, and the various other rights that have been in operation, have achieved a lot, but we are committed to improving on that by making the process less of a burden on groups that seek to use it. Recommendations include combining and simplifying the rights, reducing the burden on voting and eligibility requirements, and extending the registration period for groups. All those measures will help the process.
Ultimately, the process has to be robust. However, making it easier is a goal of the review, and I encourage members to look more broadly at the detail that is contained in that.