Chamber and committees

It has been an interesting couple of days as we have put the bill through its various stages. I thank the Parliament staff, especially the bill team and the clerks, for their work under extreme time pressure.

This legislation is badly needed in Scotland. I do not think that it is as comprehensive as it could have been, and more could be done to redress the imbalance of power that exists between tenants and landlords. We might have been able to get it to that point if we had not been as constrained in the time that we had to scrutinise and debate the bill, but we are where we are.

We are where we are today because of a number of people. I do not think that any of that work would have been possible without my friend and colleague Mercedes Villalba, who, unfortunately, due to illness, cannot be here. Anyone who knows her knows that she is a fierce and tenacious advocate for the rights of tenants across Scotland, and I am immensely proud of her work in pushing the Government on the need for the rent freeze over the past six months. I also thank our front-bench spokesman, Mark Griffin, and his team for their tireless work to improve the bill since its publication.

I thank the cabinet secretary for that recognition—it is much appreciated. Despite the frustration that Mercedes is, no doubt, feeling, I am sure that she is heartened by the progress that the bill has made in the past few days.

In addition, we would not be here without the campaigning of Living Rent, which has been organising and building power for tenants for years. I pay tribute to Living Rent for that, and I am sure that that is shared across the chamber.

The Government chose to accept the two amendments, 71 and 85, that I lodged yesterday, for which I am thankful. Sadly, it chose not to engage as positively with other amendments that were lodged by colleagues. That is unfortunate, and, on reflection, the Government might regret not accepting the amendments in the names of Alex Rowley and Pauline McNeill. I thought that they were non-contentious, and I am still unsure what legitimate reason there could be for excluding care home residents from the legislation or for not ensuring that inter-tenancy rent increases are not possible.

In the time that I have left, I will make a more general point about the situation that tenants and home owners face this winter, which means that the bill is more necessary than ever.

Yesterday, we were forced to sit and listen while Conservative members claimed that the crisis that we face somehow had nothing to do with the actions of their colleagues who are running the UK Government and that somehow the increase in mortgage costs and the plummeting value of the pound were nothing to do with them. According to Conservative members here, it was pure coincidence that the pound tanked at the exact same time as the chancellor delivered his so-called mini-budget. I am afraid that I have never heard such disingenuous drivel in all my life.

The reality of the situation is that millions of British tenants and home owners face a cost of living crisis with higher bills, mortgage payments and inflation because of the Conservatives’ selfish political choice to give tax cuts to their wealthy donors and recklessly gamble with the future of the entire British economy. Rather than put more money into the pockets of those who need it the most, they tried and failed to give it to millionaires before being shamed into a making a U-turn.

Astoundingly, we heard more yesterday from Tory members about the plight of landlords in this country than we heard about the hardship that tenants are facing. I am afraid that the game is up. The public see the Tories for exactly what they are—they are in it for themselves. I thoroughly look forward to the next general election, when they will be unceremoniously ejected from Downing Street.

I will speak to amendment 85 in my name, following the Government’s acceptance of my earlier amendment 71, which was on the provision of information and support for tenants. Amendment 85 would put a duty on ministers to report on their progress with regards to keeping tenants informed of their rights, as outlined in my earlier amendment.

I thank the Government for the constructive way in which it has engaged with my amendment. I wish to press amendment 71.

Amendment 71 agreed to.

Section 3 agreed to.

After section 3

Amendments 72 and 73 not moved.

Section 4 agreed to.

Section 5—Power to suspend and revive Part 1

I support the principle of the bill and I hope that amendment 71 will be received by the Government in the spirit that is intended, which is to be constructive and non-contentious. I welcome that the Government has introduced the bill, although I think that it could and should have been done sooner and that it should go further and do more to address the fundamental imbalance of power that exists between tenants and their landlords.

However, in the absence of increased protection, and considering what the minister said regarding legal challenge, I think that we should now look at how we communicate with and inform those who will be affected by the legislation of their rights under it, and that we should tell them where they can receive advice and support during the period for which the legislation will be in force.

The Scottish Government’s programme for government set out the intention to increase the rights and protections that are available to tenants. It committed to a tenants’ rights campaign that would showcase existing rights and ensure that tenants are aware of their ability to challenge rent rises. Although that is admirable, the requirement for it is even greater with the increased rights that are contained in this bill. As such, I believe that it makes sense to include an obligation on the Government to take steps to ensure that the new provisions that are contained in the bill—when it is enacted—are communicated clearly and concisely to those who will be impacted by its provisions. It would be a minor adjustment to the legislation, but it would guarantee that all tenants are aware of their rights, that they can easily access information and that they all know where to access support if they need to.

Research by RentBetter that was conducted in May 2022 found that tenants in Scotland have low awareness of their rights. Against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis and in the wake of new tenant protections coming into force with the introduction of the bill, it is vital that we do everything in our power to ensure that tenants are well informed about their rights. In doing so, we might not fully address the balance of power between tenants and landlords, but we will, at the very least, begin to enable tenants to exercise their rights.

I encourage the Government to take amendment 71 in the spirit in which it is intended, which is that it would add to and complement what is already in the bill—not detract from it.

I move amendment 71.

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent ballot for industrial action by members of the Educational Institute of Scotland trade union. (S6O-01404)

The cabinet secretary will be well aware that teachers are not the only public sector workers who have been forced to look to industrial action over pay and conditions. This year alone, cleansing and refuse workers have taken industrial action, railway workers are still taking industrial action, and healthcare workers look set to take industrial action for the first time in their history. Now it looks as though teachers will do the same.

When will the Government get its head out of the sand, start treating workers in the public sector with some respect and actually pay them what they deserve in order to keep ahead of inflation?

The minister has stated that the review will not look at the performance of Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council. Why has he chosen to exclude those agencies from the scope of the review, as the evidence shows that skills development has been a disaster in Scotland for the past decade and, in the past year alone—

I share the member’s commending of Jack Dickson and everyone involved in creating this fantastic play. The point that she is making is important: class exploitation is very much still alive in our present economy. Does she agree that the stories of our forefathers and foremothers that are likely described and articulated in this play can teach us a valuable lesson and make us aware of class exploitation in the current economy?

If we were right on the money, we would not be facing these significant revenue challenges, nor would we be undershooting our export growth targets, which are massively ambitious and against which we are not on the trajectory that we need to be on. A good example is action 4 in the inward investment plan. It talks about identifying and proactively targeting

“50 leading global companies we want to attract to Scotland”.

Why does it not talk about building 50 world-leading companies in Scotland? It does not mention that idea. It does not look at building wealth and capacity.