Chamber and committees

I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I am an owner of a private rented property in North Lanarkshire.

John Blackwood, how aware are tenants and landlords of the temporary requirements regarding the pre-action protocol? Does anything need to be done to improve awareness?

Good morning, minister. What is the Government’s view on whether the bill’s proposals will have an impact on local authority homelessness services? What is your view on how the proposals link in to the Scottish Government plans to improve homelessness prevention?

Yes—thanks, minister.

If anyone has a take on my next questions, please type R in the chat function. Do any specific changes need to be made to the existing regulations? If any change is required in guidance, could you set out in more detail what is required under the pre-action protocol?

Matt Downie, among the tenants with whom you come into contact, is there an awareness of the pre-action protocol and their rights?

Good morning, minister. I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I am the owner of a rented property in North Lanarkshire.

Minister, you have set out some of the changes to the charter, and the reasons for them. I want to touch on the incorporation of a reference to human rights and the right to housing for all. I want to explore the concept of a right to housing as opposed to a right to a choice of housing. Many people are in housing that, essentially, would meet the right to housing, but they are in a tenure that would not be of their choice. There are those in a private let who would want to be in social housing. What discussion was had on that change—perhaps about reflecting a right to a choice in housing rather than just the right to housing?

I want to move on to a different area. How does the Scottish Housing Regulator use the results of landlords’ reporting to gauge against standards and outcomes in its regulatory framework?

Thank you.

I appreciate the commitment. As I have said, this has been a common theme in the submissions and the evidence-taking sessions that we have had so far.

Once approval is given and the delivery plan is published, the document will be in place for 10 years instead of the previous five. How will progress with the delivery plan be reviewed? As I am sure you will agree, any review of progress will be far more important with a 10-year rather a five-year timescale.

We have repeatedly heard from stakeholders in person and in writing that they are positive about the ambitions that are contained in NPF4, but that they question their deliverability—or, not so much the deliverability but their ability to scrutinise the deliverability. Why was the draft document not accompanied by a draft delivery plan to enable that scrutiny and will a delivery plan be published before the final draft of NPF4 is laid?