Paul Sweeney
Scottish Labour · Scotland
“The single point of contact pilots that we have embarked on are making a significant difference in ensuring that people get the ability to discuss their treatment anxieties and their support. We have invested £2.5 million to expand the reach of that programme across Scotland.”
“As a member of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, I welcome the news on the proposed legislation, which is very welcome. Indeed, it is something that has been long hoped for.”
“It is more precise than conventional radiotherapy, and the team behind the trial in England has begun the process of establishing it in Scotland.”
“I thank Mesothelioma UK for continuing to raise awareness each year through action mesothelioma day. On 3 July, the Scottish Government will proudly show our support by lighting up in blue St Andrew’s house and Victoria Quay in Edinburgh to get behind the go blue for meso campaign.”
“There is an awful lot to be recognised in terms of holding people to account, which has been a feature of this campaign over time. The Scottish Government confirms its commitment to continue to stand alongside those who are affected by mesothelioma, to ensure that they receive the compassionate care and treatment that they require at ever…”
“The fact that there are such abandoned factories and that the people who enter them—whether for urban exploration or whatever else—do not understand the risks that they are exposing themselves to is a difficulty that we must overcome.”
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“I extend to Mr Ross my compliments on his work to develop the bill in concert with, in particular, Annemarie Ward and Stephen Wishart. They have worked very hard on it over a number of years in the current parliamentary session. Soon after I was elected to the UK Parliament in 2017, we had a debate on this very issue in the House of Commons. At that time, there was division about the efficacy of certain interventions, but over time we have learned—in a school of negative learning in Scotland, unfortunately—what we need to do to make a positive difference, to save people’s lives and to preserve and enhance life. Today, many speakers have described personal experience of addiction and the pernicious effects that it has on families.”
“It is the heart of the population health framework and, indeed, a core component of our mental health and wellbeing strategy, which seeks not only to promote positive mental wellbeing but to prevent crisis and need and, where they develop, to be able to provide the required support.”
“Does the minister agree with the First Minister that that will be achieved, and is he willing to be held to account for that commitment? Tom Arthur: The First Minister set out clearly what action the Government is pursuing and that we are on track to achieve the goal that he mentions. As I stated when responding to questions on my statement in June, I made a commitment that we would work constructively with health boards to support that delivery because, as Paul Sweeney will be aware, there is variation across health boards in the total percentage of resource that is allocated for mental health services. I again commit to working constructively with health boards to achieve it. Mr Sweeney made a point about prevention. That is absolutely important.”
“I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. We all agree that the current system for young people who seek mental health support is broken and must be transformed. I came to the Parliament from the Bipolar Scotland conference held in Edinburgh this morning, where there was broad agreement that prevention is often ill recognised and poorly resourced, particularly because of irrational and incoherent decisions made by integration joint boards in allocating budgets. At First Minister’s question time, the First Minister told me that the Government was on track to meet its commitment to spend 10 per cent of the national health service budget on mental health services by the end of this parliamentary session.”
“Dr Pavan Srireddy, the vice-chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, has described the autism and ADHD waiting time scandal as “a public health emergency”. Will the Scottish Government fulfil its commitment to spend 10 per cent of the national health service budget on mental health by the end of this parliamentary session, so that those who are trapped on waiting lists will have some reassurance that they will get the support that they need? The First Minister: The Government is on track to fulfil that commitment. Economy (International Investment) 6.”
“To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding the work that Social Security Scotland is engaging in to support veterans in accessing its services. (S6O-05020)”
“Jenni Minto: I politely point out to Mr Sweeney that the waiting list for dentists from international countries to sit the examinations is down to the use of reserved powers. Your minister— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Always speak through the chair. Jenni Minto: My apologies. The Minister of State for Care made a decision not to follow up on the request that we and the other devolved nations made. I call on Mr Sweeney to write to Mr Kinnock to try to persuade him of the need to get more dentists into this country. The Deputy Presiding Officer: I can squeeze in question 8, but I need brief questions and brief responses. Alcohol-specific Deaths 8.”
“Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Deputy Presiding Officer: I ask for a brief supplementary question. We have now lost a bit of time. Paul Sweeney: We know that the problems with NHS dentistry are caused primarily by dentists leaving the NHS to go private. The Scottish Government’s response has been to promise to train roughly 10 extra dentists a year, while hundreds of migrant dentists are unable to work as NHS dentists because of huge waiting lists to access conversion training. Will the minister stop blaming the UK Government over a marginal dispute about skilled worker visas and take responsibility for creating an effective training and retention plan to serve the ambitions of Scotland?”
“The law currently provides flexibility for that to be done individually, in common or through a mix of both. The law also gives individual owners the right to request evidence from another owner in the tenement of their insurance policy and of recent premium payments. The duty to insure may be enforced by any other owner in the building. I cannot agree to imposing an obligation on owners to arrange for a common insurance policy, given that individual owners are already under a duty to take out cover for their flat, as well as an interest in the common parts of the tenement. I am also concerned about unnecessary costs, which could be an additional burden on home owners and amount essentially to double insurance.”
“In the 1970s, when storms exposed widespread disrepair in Glasgow, the city organised large-scale rehabilitation programmes and kept communities intact. What we need is not complicated: clear duties, a functioning owners’ framework and rapid access to funds for repairs. A building-wide insurance policy can provide that fundamental underpinning, which would safeguard households and reduce public costs. It is standard elsewhere, so let us make it the standard here. I move amendment 336. Màiri McAllan: I understand the reasons behind Mr Sweeney’s amendment, and the cases that he has referred to have been on my mind as well, but I am afraid that the amendment is not the simple solution that Mr Sweeney thinks it is. It is already mandatory for the owners of a tenement building to insure their property.”
“That issue will not be sorted flat by flat, yet the law too often assumes that each owner can solve a shared risk on their own. When that assumption meets fire, water ingress or structural failure, claims stall, responsibility is disputed and buildings deteriorate while families live in limbo, which significantly detriments their health and wellbeing. Although we urgently need a new comprehensive tenements act to address those myriad issues, the Housing (Scotland) Bill offers an opportunity to make some immediate reforms that will provide greater security for tenemental living across Scotland. Amendment 336 does that in a simple and practical way. It simply creates a legal requirement for all owners in a tenement building to establish and have a common single insurance policy that covers the entire building.”
“There has to be agreement on best value, and the way to resolve disagreements would perhaps be arbitration. However, first and foremost, getting the fabric repaired is the most important thing, and having common block insurance is critical in that regard. Although the council has powers to clear a building if it is in a dangerous condition, it cannot readily compel or fund repairs that are needed to allow for rehabilitation. Wendy Murray, like too many others, fell into the gap between our existing tenement law and the reality of managing common repairs to residential buildings that are under shared ownership. The issue is increasingly predictable, certainly in Glasgow, where around 70,000 tenement flats predate the first world war. When it comes to structural condition, roof stonework enclosures are now reaching life expiry.”
“She did what the system asks and declared herself as homeless only to be offered unsuitable temporary accommodation while an absentee owner and unresolved responsibilities stalled the rapid repair of the tenement building. She ended up paying rent and a mortgage while also paying with her health. 16:45 Graham Simpson: What does Paul Sweeney recommend should happen when owners cannot agree on a common insurance policy? I can imagine a case in which one owner comes up with one policy and another owner fancies another. How would he resolve that? Paul Sweeney: Ultimately, it is similar to having car insurance. Fundamentally, you are obligated to insure the building because it is a critical asset and, as we know, the consequences of not having it are detrimental.”
“Others in neighbouring closes were evacuated by Glasgow City Council building control officers and are still in limbo. There were several frustrating flaws in existing legislation that led to the evacuation and eventual demolition of that tenement building, but the recurring theme has been a lack of appropriate block insurance among the flat and shop owners and the way in which that block was managed—it was self-factored, as is the case with many other tenements. That is not an isolated case. Recently, in the Calton, Wendy Murray, one of my constituents, was ordered out by building control officers when her block was deemed dangerous due to a derelict pub on the ground floor suffering a floor collapse.”
“[Inaudible.]— that structural failure in their tenement building might result in the council’s building control officers evacuating them from their homes at a moment’s notice. Indeed, for several, that has already happened, with devastating personal consequences. It is clear to me that certainly Glasgow and probably other places in Scotland have a ticking time bomb when it comes to tenement maintenance. If we do not get a grip of the issue soon, we will have an even bigger crisis on our hands. In July, a category B listed tenement at the junction of Albert Drive and Kenmure Street in Pollokshields collapsed after five years of sitting derelict since a fire in the roof, leaving residents permanently homeless but, perversely, still paying for a mortgage on a home that no longer exists.”
“The Deputy Presiding Officer: I invite the minister, Jenni Minto, to respond to the debate. 17:32”
“We should use organ donation week to recognise that much more work is needed if we want organ donation to serve the people of Scotland as well as it can. We can no longer rest on our laurels; we must get people proactively registering, and we must reduce the stigma and silence by actually talking more about the end of life. We do that more in Scotland than we used to. We do talk about hospice and end-of-life palliative care, and people should be happy to discuss with their friends and family what they want to do at the end of their lives and whether they wish to donate their organs. I reiterate my thanks to the member for lodging the motion, and I am happy to support it in the hope that today will be the start of a new Scotland- wide conversation about a vital topic.”
“People might think that it is a done deal unless they feel specifically motivated to rule themselves out, but clarifying which organs or tissue we wish to donate would avoid any ambiguity in the traumatic situation of dealing with the death of a loved one. It is good to address that matter, and I encourage members of the public and colleagues to do so. I recently visited the anatomy school at the University of Glasgow, where staff raised similar concerns about the drop in the number of people donating their bodies to medical research. The five Scottish universities that teach medicine desperately need people who are willing to donate their bodies for research. It is still an opt-in system, and a generous one, and it is something else that people might want to consider this week.”
“I urge everyone listening to ensure that they are on the organ donor register so that their family, and medical professionals, can be in no doubt about their wishes, should they wish to donate organs. I admit that I did not fully appreciate that requirement to clarify my intentions and that I have just done so in the past five minutes. It does not take long at all—I just did it on the website. Christine Grahame: I am ashamed to say that I, too, did not realise that. I have been carrying the old card and did not know that I had to register. I just thought that all would be well, because we now have presumed consent. Paul Sweeney: The figures that I mentioned might reflect some complacency since the law changed.”
“The 2019 act was a profound moment of progress that we should all be proud of—it built a sense of solidarity and community. That said, although Scotland should be proud of the opt-out system, the figures from Kidney Research Scotland paint a worrying picture of the state of organ donation in Scotland. Five hundred people are currently waiting for transplants in Scotland, but the numbers registering on the organ donor register have reduced dramatically each year, from 155,479 in 2021 to just 7,859. That is a worrying development. Not registering on the organ donor register can create a lack of clarity for families regarding their loved ones’ final wishes. It can cause delays in organ retrieval, which means that organs that could have been saved to enhance or preserve life are no longer able to be used, often very urgently, in surgery.”
“It is an ending that becomes a beginning; the moment of death becomes, in a way, an act of love and a continuation or improvement of life. It is through such acts of giving and receiving that we build a society that is based on trust and recognition—one in which we care for the stranger and in which, at the end of life, we can leave with a generous spirit and a hand open to friendship, even to someone whom we have never met. Like many in the Parliament, I was a registered organ donor under the old system. I am proud that the Parliament created an opt-out system in 2021, after the passing of the Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019. That monumental act of Parliament still retains choice for those who wish, for whatever reason, to opt out of the system, but the more generous and giving option is now the default.”
“I extend my thanks and appreciation to Christine Grahame for presenting to Parliament a motion that I know will be close to the hearts of many people across the chamber and throughout Scotland. Organ donation week is an important moment in the year for us to remember the lives saved by the incredibly generous donations of others, while also, I hope, stirring us to greater action so that we can live in a Scotland where everyone who needs a donated organ can receive one. Organ donation, as has been mentioned by other members, including Mr Kerr, is the ultimate act of kindness and represents a selfless commitment to the wellbeing of others. It is a recognition that when our life has reached its end, others can be given the gift of life and vitality.”
“This Government has declared the housing emergency, and it is investing record amounts of funding not only in bringing on new bills, but in dealing with void properties. However, the bigger issue in this context is that we must not use the unhappiness that people are feeling and pit communities against one another. We must reject that division.”
“We have heard Ukrainians and others who have settled status say that they are struggling to access skills-appropriate work. We have had dentists cycling around delivering for Uber in Glasgow— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Briefly. Paul Sweeney: —when they could be training at pace. Can we get that sorted? Kaukab Stewart: Paul Sweeney picks up many threads. The big difference with the Ukrainian resettlement scheme was that Ukrainians had the right to work, which we called for. There are big differences between them and asylum seekers who have no recourse to public funds. I commend the work that Paul Sweeney did in campaigning to secure a free bus travel pilot, for instance, which we are delivering on. I understand the point that he makes about housing pressures.”
“I associate myself with the sentiments in the minister’s statement, and in particular her commendation of the Maryhill Integration Network, which does excellent work in Glasgow—I think that its annual general meeting will be held this afternoon. It also provides the secretariat to the cross-party group on migration, which has been a fantastic addition to the Parliament in recent years. Does the minister agree that this is fundamentally a question of housing supply, that we cannot allow a housing crisis to translate into an issue of social cohesion and that we need to build out housing and expand cities such as Glasgow, which has plenty of latent capacity? Does she also recognise that we need to have measurable outcomes from the new Scots integration strategy, in particular around skills?”
“I wonder whether the minister is familiar with the B- Neatpump project, which has been developed by the Malin Group and Star Refrigeration in Glasgow. It would be a massive industrial opportunity for Scotland if we could manufacture at scale those river-based heat pumps, which can be not only used along Scottish coastlines but exported around the world. If the cabinet secretary observes that the pricing signal is correct, will she encourage that kind of manufacturing opportunity in Scotland as best she can? Gillian Martin: Absolutely. A number of projects are transferring heat from rivers into heat for homes. Paul Sweeney makes a very good point that, where we are building out heat networks, we should do as much as possible of the manufacturing for them in Scotland. Textile Waste (Recycling and Repurposing) 8.”
“There is a real opportunity for Scotland to build on that £10 billion contract with Norway. If we are to rejuvenate Scotland as a leading shipbuilding nation, we must use the Scottish National Investment Bank to remove the financial barriers that impede Scottish shipyards from competing with those in Turkey, Poland and China and must add minimum social value weighting to all tenders. This is personal, not political, for me. One of the main reasons why I am here in this Parliament is to help Scottish shipbuilding succeed and I hope that the whole Parliament can agree with that endeavour. The Deputy Presiding Officer: We move to the open debate. 12:56”
“Although BAE and Ferguson Marine were invited to tender for that contract, they withdrew shortly after being informed that they were among the six suppliers to be selected, and for the following reasons. BAE said that a UK- based social value consideration was not regarded as essential in responding to the tender and Ferguson’s said that the Northern Lighthouse Board’s stated position on economic and social impact scoring would make no distinction between impacts in the UK and other countries, weighting apprentices in foreign countries the same as those at home. That is crazy. I asked the Scottish Government to accept the UK Government’s generous offer of a legislative consent memorandum to update Scottish public procurement law and to introduce mandatory local industrial social value weighting in all public procurement competitions.”
“Although the UK Government’s national shipbuilding strategy sets out that a minimum 10 per cent social value weighting should be applied to evaluations of all new shipbuilding competitions, the Scottish Government has no equivalent. It considers only quality and price, which means that, as we have just heard during First Minister’s questions, Scottish firms often do not even bother to tender for the work, fully aware that they cannot compete with the competitive shipbuilding finance provided by state investment banks in Spain, Turkey, Poland and China. I also note that the minister mentioned size. If Ferguson Marine leased the Inchgreen dry dock, it could easily assemble the ship for the northern isles project. The tender for the Northern Lighthouse Board vessel replacement project was won by Gondán, a Spanish shipbuilder.”
“That would ensure that Scottish ships are more likely to be built in Scotland. Take, for example, the current procurement process for the two new freight flex vessels that will serve the Aberdeen to Kirkwall/Lerwick route. Four shipyards have been invited this week to tender for the contract: two in Turkey and two in China. Why are the Scottish Government-owned Ferguson Marine, Babcock in Rosyth, or Harland & Wolff not in contention for that £200 million contract? The irony is that the only work that is keeping the lights on at Ferguson Marine today is the subcontract steel work fabrication from BAE Systems for the type 26 frigates. Even the promised capital investment to improve Ferguson’s antiquated shipyard has not yet been made, despite it taking years to install critical equipment such as a panel line.”
“Although the UK Government is backing Scottish shipbuilding, the Scottish Government’s outdated, laissez-faire public procurement policy is handing an unfair advantage to state-supported overseas competitors. It is frankly absurd to export Scottish skilled work and jobs to shipyards in Poland and Turkey by awarding contracts for CalMac ferries to them rather than to Scottish shipyards that can do the job. It leaves one with the impression that the Norwegian Government seems to have more confidence in Scotland’s shipbuilding capabilities then this Scottish National Party Government has—that is the reality. We need a specific shipbuilding strategy for Scotland, and at the heart of that strategy must be a change to Scottish public procurement law to include a mandatory social value weighting in tenders for shipbuilding programmes.”
“We should seize this generational opportunity to reposition Scotland as a leading force in world shipbuilding again, leveraging the critical mass of the naval shipbuilding programme to drive commercial shipbuilding growth too. It should be a springboard for growth, not just a hammock where we can get complacent. This Government’s decision earlier this month to scrap its ridiculous ban on support for naval shipbuilding is a welcome first step to grasping the opportunity that the deal with Norway represents for the nation. However, there are still deep concerns in the industry that the new policy amounts to a shadow ban of defence firms. Industry tells me that greater clarity is needed from the Government on its new policy.”
“The £10 billion deal with Norway represents the largest shipbuilding export deal in our country’s history. It will give people across Scotland confidence that shipbuilding has a secure future, giving young people confidence that a career on the Clyde will be a prosperous and fulfilling one, working on some of the world’s most complex engineering projects. I am hopeful that the Norway deal will also signal to other countries that Scotland is leading the way with its specialist naval shipbuilding capabilities. Indeed, a United States Navy delegation, led by the US Secretary of the Navy, was on a tour of the Clyde shipyards this week. The delegation was hugely impressed with how far ahead we are in skills development and facilities investment, with that confidence in long-term orders.”
“I recall the pride of launch days, sitting on my dad’s shoulders, looking at those vast ships being launched into the river and hearing the clatter of the drag chains, but I remember that pride in the industry and the achievement of our families being overshadowed by the fear that the ship that my dad was building would be the last one—the precarious nature of shipbuilding in the 1990s meant that there was a sense that every ship might be the last one. When my dad eventually lost his job, I saw his purpose ripped away from him and the devastating effect that that had on my family. That is the source of my motivation to play my own part in reviving Glasgow’s shipbuilding industry. The United Kingdom Labour Government shares my ambition for reviving the industry right across Scotland.”
“Not only will the deal with Norway directly sustain more than 2,000 jobs at the Govan and Scotstoun shipyards, providing a stable workload for the next 15 years; it will cascade work to 103 businesses across the shipbuilding supply chain in Scotland. Together, those businesses support more than 12,000 jobs in this country. Like many Glaswegians, I come from a family with a proud history of working in the Clyde shipyards. My dad, my uncle and my granddad all worked in the shipyards, going right back to the building of the Queen Elizabeth 2 in the 1960s.”
“Both the Scottish naval shipyards—in Govan and Scotstoun, and Rosyth—now have a formidable order book with an expected 18 frigates in the pipeline: 13 type 26 vessels for the Royal Navy and Royal Norwegian Navy, and five type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy, with export prospects for the latter including to Denmark and Sweden. Glasgow is now at the very heart of the largest surface naval shipbuilding programme in Europe, a programme rivalled only by those in the United States and China. This is not only about building ships; it is about building a future. It is about supporting Glasgow’s largest manufacturing industry, which has always been a vital engine in the west of Scotland’s economy.”
“On Tuesday, I was pleased to return to my old workplace, BAE Systems naval ships in Scotstoun, with the newly appointed Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, to celebrate the £10 billion deal to supply at least five type 26 frigates to our Norwegian friends. The deal has brought with it a wave of optimism to the shipyards on the River Clyde, in stark contrast to when I worked there a decade ago. I think that I express the will of the whole Parliament in extending our gratitude and thanks to our Norwegian neighbours for their vote of confidence in our shipbuilders and the world’s best frigate design.”
“I am trying to avoid overcrowding for families, and children having their mental health and their physical health impacted by being in an overcrowded house because of arrears that are entirely outwith their control. That should not prevent their being moved to a house that properly meets their needs. As I said, amendment 305 would not prevent a local authority or a social landlord from recovering such debts at a later stage, but it would allow us to treat families in that position with empathy and to give them the homes that they need. I ask members to support amendment 305.”
“Yesterday—purely by chance—I received an email from someone who thought that I was their MSP. In fact, I am not; they are a constituent of the Rutherglen constituency. In the email, they said: “I am a constituent living in Rutherglen in a small two- bedroom flat with my partner and our four children. Our family is currently living in conditions that are overcrowded and severely impacting our mental health and wellbeing. We have been on the transfer list since 2017. We got into rent arrears during Covid and had our application suspended for a long time without us being notified, which set us back a long way.” The fact that I received that email, purely by chance, from someone who thought that I was their MSP highlights the situation that I am trying to avoid with my amendment.”
“Amendment 305 would ensure that families are not prevented from moving to accommodation that better meets their needs simply because of outstanding housing arrears or related debts. It is a targeted and compassionate reform. It would not prevent local authorities or social landlords from recovering those debts, but it would remove a barrier that too often traps families in unsuitable homes. We know from casework and from the experiences of advocacy organisations such as Aberlour that families on low incomes can find themselves stuck in overcrowded, unsafe or inappropriate housing and unable to move because of historical arrears. Being in that situation can deepen people’s hardship, undermine family wellbeing and make it even harder for them to break the cycle of debt and disadvantage.”
“I move amendment 101. The Deputy Presiding Officer: Members will note that we will shortly reach the next time limit, and that we have a further group still to debate. Therefore, under rule 9.8.5A, I am minded to accept a motion without notice to extend the debate on amendments by 30 minutes. I ask the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans to move such a motion. Motion moved, That, under rule 9.8.5A, the third time limit be moved by up to 30 minutes.—[Graeme Dey] Motion agreed to. The Deputy Presiding Officer: I invite Mark Griffin to speak to amendment 305 and other amendments in the group. Mark Griffin: Before I speak to amendment 305, I express my support for the amendments in the name of Paul Sweeney and Ariane Burgess in this group, which promote co-operative and community-based housing models.”
“That would serve to provide an extra layer of protection for community-controlled housing associations against what are often cynical and insidious attempts to railroad through irreversible takeovers of community-controlled assets that risk pitting tenants against the member shareholders. That has been a worrying trend in Scotland’s housing sector in the past few years, of which the situation at Reidvale Housing Association is only the latest and most egregious example. It would be particularly fitting for the Parliament to support amendment 101— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Mr Sweeney, could you bring your remarks to a close, please? Paul Sweeney: —because this year marks the 50th anniversary of Scotland’s first community- based housing associations. I will speak to the remainder of my amendments in my closing remarks.”
“At the time, the chair of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations said that, as an obvious supporter and promoter of community-based housing associations, they welcomed the shareholders’ decision and recognised the concerns of members, including their concern about the impending loss of community assets and the inevitable disappearance of local decision making. That is why I think that amendment 101 is reasonable and coherent. It proposes the prudent measure of bringing the voting threshold for tenants and shareholders of housing associations into alignment, with a two-thirds threshold being required for both.”
“There has never been a case in Scotland in which a large national housing group has spun out a small community-based housing association. Therefore, the amendment is important in protecting the sector. It is important to note that, once the required approval of the transfer by tenants was in place, by a small majority, Reidvale Housing Association went on to hold a special general meeting of its shareholders on 16 January last year in order to seek ratification. The proposal was then voted down.”
“With yes votes in transfers normally exceeding the 90 per cent threshold, it was clear that there was concern about the Reidvale case, because almost 40 per cent of voting tenants opposed the transfer, despite the enticing offer of a five-year rent freeze in return for handing over the £180 million of housing stock that they collectively owned. That was hardly a resounding vote of confidence. The requirement for a supermajority—one that would require support from two thirds of the tenant body—would make it clear that there is a settled majority view. In the Reidvale case, that is about what is the best future for one of Scotland’s community-based housing associations. After all, it is a one-way road from being a community-based association to joining one of the large national housing groups.”
“It was formed after the seminal Housing Act 1974, which is now celebrating half a century of community-based housing. The Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing has highlighted that it has serious concerns about the pattern of transfers and engagements involving community-based housing associations over the past few years. Transfers of engagements that have taken place have largely had the support of more than 90 per cent of tenants. The only one that fell below the 90 per cent threshold—the Pineview Housing Association and Kendoon Housing Association transfer—was unusual. Clearly, it is of concern when support from tenants of housing associations falls below the threshold. When transfers of engagements are sought, they should enjoy the support of the vast majority of tenants for the proposition to be reasonable.”
“That outcome was achieved only after a last-ditch local campaign against a well-resourced propaganda effort by Places for People Scotland to try and seize control of housing stock that was under community ownership. In December 2023, Reidvale Housing Association proposed to transfer its housing stock of around 900 properties—with a market value of approximately £180 million—to Places for People Scotland. In a tenant ballot that was open for 32 days and in which 73 per cent of tenants cast their vote, 62 per cent voted in favour of the proposal. However, had the two-thirds majority rule been in place, the proposal would have fallen at that point because it did not meet the threshold of 66.6 per cent. As members might know, Reidvale Housing Association was one of Scotland’s first community- based housing associations.”
“However, section 111 of the 2014 act, which governs shareholder voting and takeovers of societies, and is legislation that applies across the UK, stipulates: “A resolution is a ‘special resolution’ if— (a) the resolution is passed at a general meeting by at least two-thirds of the eligible members who vote.” I was motivated to lodge amendment 101 because of what happened at Reidvale Housing Association last year. Had the measure in amendment 101 been in place at that time, the tenant ballot to transfer the association’s housing stock would not have reached the required threshold for the proposal to proceed to a special general meeting of shareholders, at which the two- thirds majority requirement to transfer the engagements was not met.”
“I declare an interest, as I am a recently co-opted committee member of Reidvale Housing Association, which is a community-based housing association in Glasgow. The purpose of amendment 101 is to bring housing legislation into alignment with sections 109 to 113 of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Doing so would mean that registered social landlords can transfer engagements only if two thirds of tenants vote in favour of a special resolution. Currently, a simple majority of tenants in favour is required for the process to proceed.”
“Specifying the required level of qualification for inspectors would go some way towards giving residents the reassurance that they need that their complaints about damp and mould will be treated appropriately. My group of amendments come as a package, and they represent practical steps to ensure that Awaab’s law is implemented in full with clear standards and robust protections for tenants. They would help to deliver safe, healthy homes for everyone in Scotland and ensure that our legislation is both effective and enforceable. They would help my constituents and tenants throughout Scotland to have confidence in the laws that are designed to protect them and their children from ill health simply because of the homes that they happen to live in.”