Amendment 412 aims to raise the relationship between the condition of a property and the rent that can be charged to enable rent controls to adequately reflect whether a property is in a good condition or a poor condition and to incentivise improvements, but to do so in a way that ensures that the tenant has protection and that there are no unreasonable rent increases.

According to 2023 data from the Scottish house condition survey, 45 per cent of all private rented accommodation in Scotland had disrepair. Measures that allow tenants to seek redress are limited. Private sector accommodation is also among the most energy inefficient in Scotland.

We need to encourage improvements to the stock, but we need to do so in a way that ensures that there will not be unreasonable rent hikes for tenants. My amendment 412 seeks to provide that the rent that is payable under a private residential tenancy in a rent control area would not be increased by more than an amount that is calculated under regulations with reference to

“the quality, state of repair, or energy efficiency of the property”.

I have listened to what the cabinet secretary has said, and I will consider her amendments carefully. Therefore, I do not intend to move amendment 412.

Amendment 412 aims to raise the relationship between the condition of a property and the rent that can be charged to enable rent controls to adequately reflect whether a property is in a good condition or a poor condition and to incentivise improvements, but to do so in a way that ensures that the tenant has protection and that there are no unreasonable rent increases.

According to 2023 data from the Scottish house condition survey, 45 per cent of all private rented accommodation in Scotland had disrepair. Measures that allow tenants to seek redress are limited. Private sector accommodation is also among the most energy inefficient in Scotland.

We need to encourage improvements to the stock, but we need to do so in a way that ensures that there will not be unreasonable rent hikes for tenants. My amendment 412 seeks to provide that the rent that is payable under a private residential tenancy in a rent control area would not be increased by more than an amount that is calculated under regulations with reference to

“the quality, state of repair, or energy efficiency of the property”.

I have listened to what the cabinet secretary has said, and I will consider her amendments carefully. Therefore, I do not intend to move amendment 412.

A constituent in Irvine has been waiting for housing with wheelchair access since May 2022. Another constituent in Ardrossan, who also has serious health conditions, has been informed that they will have to wait 12 years, even though they are sleeping on the sofa and the lack of a downstairs toilet means that they have to use a commode. As the cabinet secretary knows, this is a Scotland-wide problem. What more can the Scottish Government do to increase the stock of accessible housing across Scotland? Does the cabinet secretary think that there is consistency of provision in different local authorities?

To ask the Scottish Government what further action it can take to increase the stock of accessible housing. (S6O-04636)

Does the cabinet secretary believe that there has been a rise in the number of rapes in society in recent years, or does she believe that the increase relates to higher levels of reporting, as she mentioned? Is the Scottish Government doing any work to get a better understanding of whether there has been an increase in sexual violence, particularly given some of the challenges that we face?

It would be interesting to hear from the cabinet secretary on another occasion whether the Government is doing any work to look at the underlying trends. What information can the cabinet secretary give about the profile of women who are reporting rape—for example, does it tend to be younger women or older women? Have there been changes to that profile in recent years? There have been suggestions that there has been an increase in the number of rape reports from very young women and girls. Does the cabinet secretary understand that to be the case, or is it something that she is looking at?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the number of new rape cases being reported to police has increased by more than a third since 2020-21. (S6T-02508)

I warmly welcome the regulations that the cabinet secretary has set out today. She has our strong support in aiming to ensure that we get back to the old time limits. She seems to be saying that the advice that she has been given is that this is all achievable. However, I am sure that it is not without its challenges. Will she keep the committee advised of any difficulties and how they can be addressed, to ensure that we meet the deadline and that we are able to deliver on what we are likely to vote for today?

I will be brief, as my amendments in this group relate to amendments of mine on a generic duty of care that were debated last week. My amendments in this group relate to the learner charter and the teacher and practitioner charter.

The general case that I am making is that educational institutions and bodies such as qualifications Scotland should owe a generic duty of care to students. I rehearsed some of the arguments last week, and I have lodged my amendments in this group in an attempt to promote a discussion about the issue. I am not necessarily suggesting that these specific amendments would be the appropriate response. We simply wanted to have amendments drafted that would enable us to make representations that there is an argument for having a generic duty of care in Scotland.

I look forward to the cabinet secretary’s response. I will consider lodging other amendments on the matter at stage 3.

Sure. Do other witnesses agree with that or have a view?