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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 1 July 2025
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Displaying 656 contributions

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Meeting of the Parliament

Fire Alarm Standards

Meeting date: 19 January 2022

Jeremy Balfour

I do not know where the cabinet secretary’s officials shop, but I have just checked and every B&Q in Edinburgh has no availability until after the relevant date. Perhaps the cabinet secretary could ask officials where they shop.

I am interested in the cabinet secretary’s definition of “a bit more time” and “reasonable time”. What do they mean in practice? Is it days, weeks or months?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Jeremy Balfour

Farmers and those who work in the agricultural and rural sectors have experienced great difficulty with mental health and loneliness throughout the pandemic. Lockdowns and self-isolation have added to those difficulties. The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution’s “The Big Farming Survey” has revealed that 35 per cent of the entire farming community have described themselves as “probably” or “possibly” depressed. The figure for women in agriculture is higher, at 43 per cent. What will the cabinet secretary do to support farmers and farming charities to deal with the mental health crisis in our rural communities?

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 13 January 2022

Jeremy Balfour

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to farming charities. (S6O-00611)

Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Rented Housing Sector

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Jeremy Balfour

There can be no doubt that, as others have said, Scotland is facing a difficult period with regard to the housing market. Here, in the Lothians, it can be seen starkly as rents rise and the number of available properties falls. Something has to be done to address the problems, and I put on the record my and my party’s willingness to work with anyone in this Parliament on reasonable measures.

However, we must be careful about what constitutes a reasonable measure. We must not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of thinking that doing something is the same as helping. We must not allow ourselves to be seduced by the easy option of measures that will help in the short term but wreak untold damage in the future. It is incumbent on the members of this Parliament not to be short sighted but to see beyond dogmatic convictions and consider the consequences of legislation beyond the current five-year session of Parliament.

The Government’s so-called new deal for tenants is not the revolutionary legislation that it would have the country believe. It is a package of old, tired and previously unsuccessful policies that define the concept of a short-term fix at the expense of future generations.

My colleagues in the Green Party like to talk about the settled science. I am afraid that, when it comes to rent controls, the verdict is in—and they do not work. Mr Rennie asked for evidence of why we are going down this road. It is not as though we do not have example after example from around the world of rent controls having been implemented and having failed to fix the problem of affordability.

Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Rented Housing Sector

Meeting date: 21 December 2021

Jeremy Balfour

I think that the minister would recognise that the countries in Europe that he is talking about have a very different housing market from ours in Scotland.

The biggest issue that we face is that, if we go for rent control, landlords who have only one or two flats will simply sell them. That will take them off the market and those who are looking to rent will have less choice rather than more choice. That, in economic terms, means that rents will go up. Of course, there will be short-term benefits for renters if the proposals go ahead. However, they are minimal and will be dwarfed by the costs for future renters.

I would argue that none of this is controversial. An economist from the left-leaning Brookings Institution in America stated that

“Rent control appears to help affordability in the short run for current tenants, but in the long-run decreases affordability”,

makes negative extremes and affects surrounding neighbourhoods in a way that no one would expect. I would suggest that, if we go down the way of rent controls, that is what would happen in this country.

Yes, we need to fix the problem that has been created over the past 14 years. Scotland would be better served by the Scottish Government if it focused on meeting its targets for new houses built, a measure that would effectively bring prices down and ensure that there was enough accommodation for everybody to have, instead of trying to fix the market.

Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Topical Question Time

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Jeremy Balfour

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what flexibility will be afforded for the installation of interlinked fire alarms in light of recent reports about the available funding for low-income households. (S6T-00356)

Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Topical Question Time

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Jeremy Balfour

Will the cabinet secretary define a “reasonable” period? What is the cut-off date when the law will be enforced? That will give people certainty about when the work needs to be done by, rather than a vague timescale that is reasonable.

Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Topical Question Time

Meeting date: 14 December 2021

Jeremy Balfour

I will press the cabinet secretary. If alarms are not fitted by the appropriate time, there will be home insurance issues. What conversations has she had with home insurers about whether policies will be valid? When will it be decided that the reasonable period has ended? The Government must fix a date at some point—or is it unwilling to make the decision?

Meeting of the Parliament

Budget 2022-23

Meeting date: 9 December 2021

Jeremy Balfour

I follow Fiona Hyslop, Presiding Officer.

Meeting of the Parliament

Culture

Meeting date: 9 December 2021

Jeremy Balfour

Many cultural venues across Scotland have succumbed to damage in the past few months, after underuse as a result of the pandemic and battering from recent storms. What will the Scottish Government do to protect some of the most vulnerable buildings in communities across Scotland?