Chamber and committees

Tragically, high-profile court cases in the media recently have emphasised the risks of domestic abuse to children. Will the First Minister use her social media platform this afternoon, as I will, to highlight services that children who are concerned for their safety, or adults who are worried about children, can turn to at this time?

Thank you—I appreciate that.

Would you support a register of judicial interests?

Lord Advocate, you said in a recent interview that

“Judge-led trials don’t impact on the right to a fair trial [but] we need to look at the suitability of a jury to prosecute a case.”

You added that

“We should be properly informed ... properly informed about judges.”

You will be aware that Professor Fiona Leverick’s research found “overwhelming evidence” that jurors hold “prejudicial and false beliefs”. In our private evidence sessions with victims, we heard that they felt that there was an element of that. They felt that juries might be prejudiced if the complainer had been drinking.

What is your opinion on that? What do you mean by the “suitability” of a jury? Does that suggest a need for media training—I am referring to specialist courts?

Apologies, convener—I lost connectivity there.

I will come back on the second part of the question, and ask the Lord Advocate to expand on her comment that we need to be “properly informed” about judges. I would like to know what that means. In that context, would you support a register of judicial interests?

Some of the most distressing cases that my office deals with involve tenants who are being forced to leave their homes, sometimes with very little notice and without regard to their personal circumstances. Some have been in their properties for years, and sometimes decades. It is where their children have grown up, where their neighbours are friends and where their lives have been rooted. At those times, I often ask myself how I would feel in that position. I think that lost, scared and confused would be the answer. That is why the consultation on a new deal for tenants is so necessary and so right.

I profoundly disagree with Jeremy Balfour on rent controls. Tenants need to know that their tenancies are secure and that they can call the place where they live home by personalising it to their taste. They need to know that they will not be faced with exorbitant rent rises that they cannot afford, which would inevitably lead them into debt. Have no doubt about it—many private tenants are paying high rents, which are usually much more than a mortgage, for poor-quality homes. We have heard that from across the chamber. The latest report from Citizens Advice Scotland states, under the category “Problems during a tenancy”, that the figures have gone up by 54 per cent since the start of lockdown, in 2020. Lockdown showed us all the value of having a secure and suitable home, and this consultation, held in conjunction with the Scottish Green Party, is the start of a conversation about ensuring that a new and better deal for tenants will be delivered.

Unlike the previous private rented sector strategy, this strategy will pursue a whole-sector approach that considers the social and private rented sectors together, because housing tenures are integrated across the same neighbourhoods and even within the same buildings. All tenants have the right to a safe, warm, affordable and suitable home, regardless of the form that their tenancy takes. Although the Scottish Government’s aim of providing a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 is exemplary, there is no doubt that we will need private sector rental houses and responsible landlords for the foreseeable future.

Of course, the housing shortage that we are experiencing comes from Margaret Thatcher and her Tory Government’s disastrous policy of selling off council houses. What a legacy to leave for future generations, which are now struggling to put roofs over their heads.

The new deal recognises those difficulties, and the much-needed agreement will help people with all aspects of renting a home. It aims to increase penalties for illegal evictions and to restrict evictions during winter. It will give tenants greater flexibility to personalise their homes and keep pets. That is crucial. Why should tenants be denied the right to enhance their lives that homeowners take for granted?

Rent controls for the private rented sector and a new housing standard will apply, and there will be a regulator to ensure that the system is fair for renters and landlords.

Crucially, the new deal will set minimum standards for energy efficiency, to make homes cheaper to heat and to help us to meet climate change targets.

The measures form part of the “Housing to 2040” strategy, which was published in March, and they take forward several commitments in the co-operation agreement with the Scottish Green Party. The results of the consultation will feed into the final version of the strategy, which will be published next year, and proposals will be put to the Scottish Parliament in a housing bill in 2023.

I know that members of all parties agree that a warm and affordable home is a basic human right, but it is a right that has been denied to too many people for far too long. I welcome the commitment to a new deal for renters, and I hope that it will ease anxiety for and give security to the 1.85 million people in Scotland who live in rented premises.

Thank you.

Thank you—I understand that.

That was helpful. I do not know whether DCS Faulds wants to come in; she might have addressed the issue in her earlier response.

Thank you—that was helpful.