Chamber and committees

Did that answer your question, Pam?

I pass over to my colleague Marie McNair, who is joining us remotely and who has a question on this theme.

Jeremy Balfour will be followed by Emma Roddick, who is participating remotely.

The next theme is case transfer. I know that Jeremy Balfour has had his question answered, so we will move on to questions from Pam Duncan-Glancy.

My thoughts, too, are with everybody who has been impacted by this tragedy.

Rail incidents in Scotland are rare, but we should not underestimate the impact that any derailment or incident has on the wellbeing of drivers, other staff who are on board and passengers. Some of the findings of the report, which is harrowing to read, relate to the crashworthiness of the train and, especially, the glass in the windows. Can the minister say what more can be done to ensure that the trains that people work and travel in are as safe as they can be?

I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests: I am a serving councillor in East Ayrshire.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has added the voice of Scotland’s local authorities to that of the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament in calling on the Home Secretary to step up the United Kingdom’s resettlement programme for Ukrainian refugees, citing the expertise of Scotland’s strategic migration partnership in supporting refugees and migrants and integrating them into our communities.

Notwithstanding today’s announcement about digital visas, will the minister comment on the Home Secretary’s claim that the UK is “doing everything possible” to speed up the remarkably slow roll-out of the visa scheme to Ukrainian refugees, especially in light of the full willingness of COSLA and our councils to play their part in Europe-wide efforts?

The cabinet secretary will recognise the immense outpouring of empathy and willingness from citizens right across Scotland to provide assistance and shelter in response to the humanitarian plight of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. In my constituency, several efforts are in progress right now to take refugees into people’s homes in the area. However, as we do not have control over borders, can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the discussions that are taking place with the United Kingdom Government to cut the red tape and get folk here?

Thank you, convener. I was reflecting on your suggestion about looking across the world for examples of how different countries operate. I can give an example that we should never follow. I grew up in Montreal, which is predominantly a city of renters, most of whom rent from the private sector. Leases run to 1 July every year. Every year on 1 July, about 70,000 households move. It is called Montreal moving day madness. We should never seek to emulate any such system.

My question reflects the issue that Miles Briggs raised, which Mark Griffin also touched on. We know that the private rented sector is a huge help to us in addressing homelessness. For many years, those who have been at risk of homelessness or who have been homeless have used the private rented sector to get secure tenancies. The changes that were made in 2016 strengthened those arrangements.

However, we know that, before the pandemic, there were a lot of evictions in the private rented sector. Do you think that the two specific provisions that we are considering will help to reduce that number? Do you think that they capture the recommendations from the reconvened HARSAG group, the social renewal advisory board’s housing policy circle and the Scotland prevention review group, which is now consulting on the prevention duties? I wish that those had been looked at in the early 2000s, when the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Bill was first considered. I would like to hear your thoughts on those issues.

Before I ask my questions—a lot of the questions that I was going to ask have already been asked and answered, which is fantastic—I declare an interest, in that I am a sitting councillor on East Ayrshire Council.

I will direct my first question to Matt Downie. I know that, for many years, Crisis has promoted the responsible use of the private rented sector for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. As we have heard, year on year before the pandemic, eviction levels from the private rented sector exceeded those from the social rented sector. How will the proposals in part 4 of the bill address that? Do the proposals capture all the recommendations and outputs from the reconvened homelessness and rough sleeping action group and the social renewal advisory board, especially now that we face the additional pressures of the cost of living crisis?

I will direct my second and final question to John Blackwood. At the height of the pandemic, we met as part of the private rented sector resilience group, which had been set up at the time. I am glad to hear anecdotal evidence that there was great support for landlords to work hand in hand with tenants to prevent homelessness, because, at the time, we spoke a lot about that and the need to distribute information on support. I know that this has already been touched on, but how could we improve that situation?

The Social Justice and Social Security Committee, which I convene, is holding an open inquiry into problem debt and poverty. We know that people who are in that situation often find it difficult to engage with services. There are landlords across the country who are not members of your association, so how do we join up all those services in order that the support agencies, councils and landlords can work on a cross-sector basis to prevent homelessness as far upstream as possible?