Chamber and committees

Finally, councils have told the committee that the order’s commencement date will not give sufficient time to update policies or administrative and information technology systems, and it has been—quite rightly—suggested that that might lead to possible misinterpretation and the sorts of problems that we have seen across councils, especially here in Edinburgh. What assurances can you offer councils that there will be sufficient time to update systems, given that the order will come into force on the day that it is made?

I agree with that, but I would just note that the regulations were put in place for health and safety reasons, not for planning and licensing purposes. You might be saying now that the decisions are about reducing the size of the festival—or about looking at that, even—but that is not where the regulations originally came from.

I am not sure about having the transitional phase four weeks before the festival starts and then looking at it afterwards, given the damage that it will potentially have caused. We know from many people—Jason Manford being one of them—that the scheme has seen prices rocket such that people on a budget who want to come and showcase their talents in the festival just cannot. Statistically, we will need to see, but the damage will be done. I have made those arguments to you already.

I, too, thank the minister for an advance copy of his statement. A month ago, the Scottish Government declared a housing emergency, but what we have heard today does not sound or feel like a response to an emergency. We need to see more from the Government, and the fact that the minister mentioned children only twice in his statement tells us a lot. Every day, 45 children become homeless in Scotland. Under this Scottish National Party Government, 9,860 children are living in temporary accommodation and some have been in such accommodation for years. That is an increase of 138 per cent over the past decade, while the SNP and the Greens have been in power.

The minister mentioned the letter that has been sent to the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister. I agree with the key ask in that letter about children living in temporary accommodation, which is an issue that I have consistently raised in this chamber during this session of Parliament. In the time remaining in this session, we have the opportunity to make a difference in line with the First Minister’s policy of eradicating child poverty, but we need a single-minded focus on reducing the harm that children living in temporary accommodation experience. How many children does the minister expect will be living in temporary accommodation in Scotland by the end of this parliamentary session?

I agree with Ash Regan. The Government needs to understand the facts of what people are experiencing. The minister mentioned a figure of 9 per cent, but in Edinburgh it is much higher. People are being mixed together in unacceptable situations: families, single men, and women who are experiencing homelessness. Often, those women have fled domestic abuse but are put into those situations, and they then leave them to become homeless, because they feel safer on the streets. Will the minister look at reviewing the situation, and get the third sector to be part of that? In so many options out there, we do not use the third sector, and it wants to be part of a solution.

What impact have rent controls had on council colleagues being able to put together sustainable tenancies in the private rented sector, especially for people who are experiencing homelessness? Has that been undermined? What has your experience been of that? I do not know whether you have specific data on what the situation was like before the rent control legislation and after it. If you cannot provide us with that today, perhaps you could send it to us after the meeting.

That would be useful.

Good morning and thank you for joining us here in the room and online.

I want to ask a question about some of the evidence that the committee has heard from tenant groups, which have said that the proposals place too great an onus on tenants to challenge rents in rent control areas. Do you agree with that? Should the onus be on landlords to comply with any rent control designation?

Also, what is your opinion on the number of rent reviews that are taking place now? We have spoken to a number of panels recently and it is quite clear from some of the evidence that we have received from more rural areas that rent reviews are taking place almost annually, whereas that was not the case previously. Is that another unintended consequence of the measure? Do you have any data on that?

If you consider that and the rent control areas, how would that work in practice in Edinburgh? There are different markets in different parts of the city, and I think that most people would accept that it is an overheated market. We have seen in different countries rent controls being suspended and different models being introduced. Let us face it: what we as a country have done to date is like a patchwork quilt. What model could work? The bill has included bits and pieces of previous things, but maybe there is an opportunity to open this up to get something that will work in the Scottish context, especially given what we have heard today about rural and urban communities. Edinburgh might be a specific case, given the increases that there have been.

That is a good point.