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Agenda item 3 is consideration of the Scottish Government’s response to the committee’s stage 1 report on the Housing (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. The Government’s response does not refer directly to the committee’s report, but its recommendations with regard to sections 8 and 9 are relevant to the committee’s concerns.
Section 8 concerns the power to modify the regulator’s functions in relation to social landlords, while section 9 concerns the power to reduce local authority influence over registered social landlords. In each case, the committee was concerned that the powers were too broad to achieve the stated policy objective of ensuring compatibility with registered social landlords being classified by the Office for National Statistics as private sector bodies in the UK national accounts, and it considered that the powers in sections 8 and 9 could be framed more narrowly. The Government has responded by confirming that it will lodge an amendment at stage 2 to provide for the regulation-making powers at sections 8 and 9 to expire three years after the bill receives royal assent.
Does the committee wish to note the Government’s commitment to lodging amendments at stage 2?
Members indicated agreement.
We now move into private session.
11:43 Meeting continued in private until 12:08.