Official Report 482KB pdf
Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments) Regulations 2026 [Draft]
Removing from Heritable Property (Form of Charge) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2025 (SSI 2025/402)
Bankruptcy and Diligence etc (Decrees for Removing from Heritable Property) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2025 (SSI 2025/403)
Scottish Secure Tenancies (Proceedings for Possession) (Form of Notice) Amendment Regulations 2025 (SSI 2025/404)
09:01
Our next item of business is consideration of an affirmative Scottish statutory instrument and three negative instruments.
I welcome to the meeting Màiri McAllan, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing. I also welcome her officials from the Scottish Government: Pauline Brice, housing policy manager; Yvette Sheppard, head of the rented sector unit; and Craig McGuffie, solicitor. I thank them for joining us.
Following this evidence session, the committee will be invited to consider a motion to approve the affirmative instrument. I remind everyone that Scottish Government officials can speak under this item but not in the debate that follows if there is one.
I invite the cabinet secretary to make some opening remarks on all four SSIs.
Thank you, convener, and good morning, committee. Thank you for the invitation to attend to give evidence on the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments) Regulations 2026, which, as you said, are accompanied by three negative instruments.
Domestic abuse is a leading cause of women’s homelessness in Scotland and social landlords have a vital role to play in keeping tenants safe. Nobody should have to choose between their safety and their home. This package of SSIs will bring into force new powers to protect victims of domestic abuse and hold perpetrators to account.
Part 2 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 provides social landlords with a new ground to apply to the court for an order that, if it is granted, will enable the landlord to transfer a tenancy to a victim of domestic abuse. That will allow landlords, rather than victims themselves, to take action in court to transfer the tenancy. In introducing the regulations, we have worked with stakeholders—including social landlords and, crucially, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service—to develop the package of secondary legislation that is required to implement those provisions. The package of secondary legislation makes consequential changes to existing legislation. It also prescribes new statutory notice forms to allow the measures in part 2 to operate.
In particular, the regulations provide that only the abusive tenant can be removed from the property where a court order on the new ground is granted and not the victim and the victim’s family unless that family member is named in the court order. Only the abusive tenant will be given notice to remove themselves and their belongings from the property unless anyone else is specifically named in the order.
The tenant and any qualifying occupier must be notified that the landlord is seeking to raise a court action on domestic abuse grounds and provided with information on what that will mean for them. The victim is always notified that the landlord intends to raise court proceedings on the new domestic abuse ground, including when the victim has had to flee the property.
These changes are essential so that the victim and any members of the victim’s family cannot be removed from the property along with the abuser, and so that all parties understand what court action will mean for them, including, of course, the victim’s right to play a part in any court action that might arise.
Implementation of part 2 of the 2021 act has been very complex. It has required consequential changes to legislation, which I have been moving through. That has included changes to court orders and issues with data sharing between relevant bodies, all of which are essential but complicated. We have also begun progressing a number of other important measures to strengthen protection against homelessness for domestic abuse victim survivors, not least the creation of a national fund to leave. We put £1.5 million behind that in this financial year and have allocated £2 million for the following financial year.
We have also worked closely with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service on the development of appropriate court rules and changes to court forms. The commencement date of 1 August, which we are proposing in the regulations, provides sufficient time for them to be ready. Detailed statutory guidance for social landlords on the use of the new provisions has also been produced. A draft has been shared with key stakeholders to seek their views and that will be updated accordingly.
In summary, the package of regulations will allow social landlords to take action on behalf of victims, removing a significant barrier that has forced too many people to flee their homes to escape abuse. The perpetrator can now be made to leave, not the victim. This is an important step in our commitment to continuing to tackle domestic abuse and to supporting those who are affected by it to rebuild their lives.
Thank you, cabinet secretary. We will now move to questions. Our questions will be directed to you, but you are, of course, welcome to invite any official to respond, should you wish to do so.
I welcome the regulations that are being introduced. I have some questions for clarity. You mentioned the guidance that is being prepared. When will it be prepared? Will it be in advance of 1 August, which is the date of the introduction of the regulations?
My second question is about data sharing. You spoke about speaking to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and local authorities. Where do organisations such as Scottish Women’s Aid come in when it comes to raising awareness that the regulations are in place and can be enforced?
What would be the grounds for eviction for the person who has been made to leave? Typically, it would be the set standards of what eviction could be enacted on. Would it require an offence to have been committed? What are the grounds for eviction of that individual?
I will go through your questions, Ms Baker, and bring in my officials when I need to.
The first question is on the statutory guidance. It has been developed alongside stakeholders, it will be revised to reflect their comments and it will be published in spring. It will support social landlords to be ready for the go-live date of 1 August 2026. All is in order and under way with sufficient time to build in stakeholders’ views, and it will be ready in time for the regulations coming into force.
On your second question about the stakeholders that we have engaged with, I was keen to highlight the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, because that speaks to the complexity of getting the regulations to a position where they can be enforced. However, organisations such as Scottish Women’s Aid are vital to the development of that work. In my notes, I found a quote from Marsha Scott, the chief executive of Scottish Women’s Aid, who said:
“Not all can stay in their own homes safely, which is why refuge provision is so important, but for the many who could, this regulatory change will bring much-needed reform.”
I have fairly frequent dialogue with Scottish Women’s Aid on the regulations and on the fund to leave in particular, and that will continue, because its assistance in helping women to navigate the situation will be very important.
On your third question, which was about grounds for eviction, I will hand over to Craig McGuffie, our solicitor, who can talk us through that.
Ground 15A, which is being added to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, will enable a social landlord to seek the termination of a joint tenant’s interest in a tenancy or the recovery of possession of a property if the abuser is the sole tenant. That ground applies when
“the tenant or one of the joint tenants has engaged in behaviour which is abusive of a person … who is a partner or ex-partner”
of that tenant, and the house must be the person’s sole or principal home. There is no standard that must be met—the regulations just refer to “abusive” behaviour. A conviction is not needed. A course of conduct that fell short of criminal behaviour would be enough for a social landlord to seek an eviction.
Thank you.
Good morning. As a former Scottish Women’s Aid worker, I am delighted that we are having this discussion, and I hope that the regulations will be approved.
My questions follow on from Claire Baker’s questions. We know that, when women who are experiencing domestic abuse leave, that is the most dangerous time for them. I worry that, as Marsha Scott has set out, the circumstances that we are talking about would present an equally dangerous period for such women, so the guidance will be critical in that respect. How can we ensure that support organisations and social landlords are aware of the complexity surrounding the issue? I have a bit of a concern about their seeking to raise an action when the person experiencing domestic abuse is not quite comfortable with that. I want to ensure that that issue is being considered and that we think through all the possibilities of what could happen during such a difficult time.
I welcome that question. The dangers and difficulties that women face when they are being subjected to abuse make all of this much more complicated and sensitive. Careful thought is required, as you have encouraged us to take.
Although the regulations are an important step in allowing a victim/survivor to stay in her home and to have the perpetrator removed, ultimately, it relies on that woman feeling able to use the new administrative process. We know that, if you are being subjected to abuse, you are not always in a position to advocate for yourself and so on. That is why the guidance that we are producing with stakeholders will be critical, and it is why what Craig McGuffie said about the evidence of abuse and the breadth of our characterisation of abuse is important. There is no requirement for a court order or information from Police Scotland, although all of that will constitute grounds for the new form of charge to be used. A spectrum of things can constitute evidence of abuse, and we will encourage awareness of that through the guidance and our work with stakeholders. We will take a gendered and victim-centred approach to enable people to understand how the system will work.
One of my big worries is about ensuring that the victim/survivor is in the driving seat as much as possible. I worked previously with social landlords in this policy area, and I would caution against their taking the driver’s seat—they must ensure that what is done is done in conjunction with the victim/survivor, as opposed to something being done to them, if that makes sense.
It absolutely does. We will seek to foster that approach through the guidance.
Thank you.
Good morning. I have two questions.
I welcome the regulations, but I would like clarification on a couple of issues. From your discussions with social landlords, has there been any evidence that, when they carry out checks, they might be less willing to rent accommodation to couples with a history of such issues? We do not want people to be penalised when trying to get social housing, and I wonder whether that might be an unforeseen consequence.
09:15
Going back to look at the other side of something that we discussed previously, I am a wee bit interested in knowing what evidence would be required. In some very exceptional cases, malicious claims will be made by a man about a woman or by a woman about a man. What is the burden of proof? I appreciate that that would not be a court order, but if I were simply to make a claim of domestic abuse against my wife, would that be enough? What safeguards are there for people who are wrongly accused of doing something?
On your first question, I am not concerned that there will be a freezing effect on landlords’ willingness to rent to couples or families. Abuse can arise in almost any domestic situation or arrangement that you can imagine. Therefore, although it is vital that we work with landlords to help them understand the existence and nature of abuse, I am not concerned that doing that will have any effect on who they do or do not let to. In any case, letting should always be on the basis of housing need.
I will turn to Craig McGuffie to say more on the question about burden of proof, which is deliberately broad, because of what Ms Whitham said about the difficulties that are faced mostly, but not always, by women. In the vast majority of cases, it is women who suffer abuse. I would not be comfortable with setting a very high level for the burden of proof, such as requiring a court order or police information. I think that it is right to frame that broadly. The guidance will flesh it out, but it can include discussions, evidence, speaking to neighbours, testimony from the victim themselves all the way through to court provisions, should the landlord feel that that is required. It is deliberately broad. Craig may have more to say about the landlord’s perspective.
It is important to remember that these are civil, not criminal, proceedings. The court has to be satisfied, on the balance of probability, whether there has been abusive behaviour, which is defined in section 2 of the 2021 act as an instance where
“a reasonable person would consider the behaviour to be likely to cause”
the victim or survivor
“to suffer physical or psychological harm”
which can include
“fear, alarm and distress”.
That means that there is no need for a criminal conviction. The evidence could come from witness statements, criminal proceedings or a charge, but there is no restriction on the sorts of evidence that a social landlord could present to the court, because there is no criminal standard of proof.
That is helpful.
There is quite a lot of responsibility on social landlords. What training are you planning to provide over the next six months, up to August, to help social landlords, who will have to come to a view on this? Some people will have experience of this, but others will not. What training would you expect social landlords to have before August and when can we expect to see the guidance?
I will answer your final question first. As I said to Ms Baker, the guidance is under development. It has been shared with stakeholders and we will now incorporate their feedback before publishing the guidance in the spring so that it is ready when the regulations come into force in August.
There is a legitimate question, which Scottish Women’s Aid raised with me and which Ms Whitham alluded to, about training, understanding and the ability to navigate the complexity of domestic abuse in all its forms. There is work to be done in that regard and we are dealing with a lot of social landlords, some of whom have the capacity for training or for undertaking close and intensive work, while others do not. Through a combination of the guidance that we are developing on these rules in particular and of a provision in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 for domestic abuse policies to be developed and implemented, there will be a train of work that will allow us to ensure that a close understanding of the nature of the issue is embedded with all the social landlords who will navigate this.
As there are no further questions, we move to item 3, which is formal consideration of motion S6M-20309. I invite the cabinet secretary to speak to and move the motion.
I ask the committee to consider the motion favourably, as the regulations represent a significant step forward in protecting the housing rights of victim survivors of domestic abuse and their families.
I move,
That the Social Justice and Social Security Committee recommends that the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments) Regulations 2026 [draft] be approved.
As members have no comments to make, I invite the cabinet secretary to sum up.
I have nothing further to add.
Motion agreed to.
Are members content to delegate to me responsibility for approving a short factual report to the Parliament on the affirmative instrument?
Members indicated agreement.
Our next item is consideration of four negative Scottish statutory instruments, three of which were referred to in evidence under item 2. Do members have any comments on SSI 2025/402, SSI 2025/403 or SSI 2025/404?
Members: No.
Social Security (Residence in an EEA State or Switzerland) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 (SSI 2025/415)
Do members have any comments on SSI 2025/415?
Members: No.
Does the committee agree that it does not wish to make any further recommendations in relation to the instruments?
Members indicated agreement.
Are members content simply to note the instruments?
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you. That concludes our consideration of secondary legislation. I thank the cabinet secretary and her officials for attending today’s meeting.
09:23
Meeting suspended.
09:25
On resuming—