Chamber and committees

The group''s remit is To advise the Scottish Government on how it can support tenants, landlords and others to grow a professional, high quality Private Rented Sector equipped to provide sustainable housing solutions for Scotland in the 21st century and as part of its deliberations it has considered a range of options presented by stakeholders for consultation for a proposed private housing bill.

The group considered a recommendation from Glasgow City Council on whether access should be given to premises for the purpose of applying the fit and proper person test in relation to landlord registration. The group did not adopt this proposal as this may be seen as intrusion on tenants and could be an infringement of their human rights. Local authorities already have the powers under section 47 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 and Section 81 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to gain access to a property under certain circumstances.

The group did agree however to consult on a couple of measures to allow private landlords the right to gain access to a property such as applying to the Private Rented Housing Panel when in dispute with a tenant about gaining access in relation to the Repairing Standard and allowing a private landlord to inspect and gain possession of an abandoned property by applying to an authorising body.

The group''s work is not concluded and it has identified a number of issues that it will consider further over 2010-12 and therefore no final discussions have been made on its recommendations.

With our games partners, we have introduced strong measures of financial control and risk management to ensure that the games budget is tightly controlled. These measures give us confidence that the games will be delivered within the agreed budget, which remains at £453.6 million at 2007 prices.

The Consultation on the Proposed Private Housing Bill includes a number of proposals that would assist enforcement action, such as:

expanding the list of offences to be declared by an applicant for landlord registration;

allowing a local authority to require a criminal record certificate to verify information;

requiring the Private Rented Housing Panel to obtain and check landlord registration numbers;

requiring landlord registration numbers in advertisements of properties to let;

allowing a local authority to require an agent to provide a list of properties managed;

allowing tenants and local authorities to claim back rent paid in an unlicensed HMO, and

providing that failure to provide information when required will lead to the presumption that a property is an HMO.

In addition, the current Housing (Scotland) Bill includes a power for a local authority to obtain information from people connected with a property e.g. landlord or agent to enable or assist it to exercise its landlord registration function. Failure to comply would be an offence. The bill also increases the maximum fine for acting as an unregistered landlord to £20,000.

The original Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.28 was at the point of the GARL Bill submission in 2006 but in September 2009 at the point of cancellation the BCR had reduced to 1.1. This was due to the formulation of more fully informed costs for the project.

In addition to the chair, the board comprises representatives from each of the company owners, representation from the Commonwealth Games Federation, an athlete representative and two independent directors. The chair is entitled to appoint a further two independent directors.

The current board membership is as follows:

Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chairman

Michael Cavanagh, Chairman, Commonwealth Games Scotland

Ian Emmerson OBE, Commonwealth Games Federation

Hon Michael Fennell OJ CD, President, Commonwealth Games Federation

Sir Bill Gammell, Independent Director

Councillor Archie Graham, Glasgow City Council

Mike Hooper, CEO, Commonwealth Games Federation

Liz Hunter, Scottish Government

Louise Martin CBE, sportscotland

Dr Bridget McConnell, Culture & Sport Glasgow

Alan Mitchelson, Independent Director

Rhona Simpson, Athlete representative

Kate Vincent, Scottish Government.

LAS was set up in April 2008 with the aim of promoting best practice and professionalism in the private rented sector. LAS support tenants and landlords through provision of advice, guidance and training.

However, whilst the Scottish Government has no powers to intervene, following the redundancy announcement I discussed the possibility of compensation for the loss of the 45 Hillington jobs with David Lammy, the UK Minister for Higher Education, by moving jobs in the Student Loan Company from England to Scotland. He has failed to provide any such assistance.

However, whilst the Scottish Government has no powers to intervene, I met with the Chief Executive of the SLC on the evening prior to the redundancy announcement being made public. We discussed the help the government could provide, and I gave a commitment that the government would assist the SLC in managing this difficult situation.

At an early stage my officials discussed PACE support with the SLC''s management “ PACE is our national strategic partnership framework for responding to redundancy situations. PACE is working in partnership with the SLC''s outplacement agency to provide a wide range of support to SLC personnel including benefits information, career planning, access to government funded training, financial advice and long term support.

I am regularly updated by my officials on the situation and met the chief executive again on 17 March 2010 for an update on the voluntary redundancy programme.