Seòmar agus comataidhean

Minister, if you could keep your answers to the point and very brief, that would be great. Mark Griffin has a question, I have one more question and then we need to move on to the next bit of the work that we are going to do together.

We have a final question, for which I would like a very brief response, please.

We heard from VisitScotland, in its written evidence, that it believes that

“there is evidence that licencing authorities have misinterpreted the guidance and or used the old 2021 Order not the current 2022 Order as the basis for their policies and practices in some cases.”

Are you aware of that? If you are, do you have a sense of how that occurred, and what are you doing about it?

The result of the division is: For 4, Against 0, Abstentions 3.

Motion agreed to,

That the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee recommends that the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Amendment Order 2024 be approved.

Thank you very much.

I think that Lucy Hughes indicated that she wanted to say more about equalities.

Thank you very much. We will go into a bit more detail with our next set of questions, which will be asked by Gordon MacDonald.

I welcome our second panel of witnesses. We are joined in the room by Becky Thwaites, who is head of public affairs at Blue Cross, and Gilly Mendes Ferreira, who is director of innovation and strategic relations at the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We are joined online by James Hickman, who is head of outreach projects at the Dogs Trust.

Where it is needed, we will try to direct our questions to specific witnesses, but if you would like to comment in response to a question, please indicate that clearly to me or the clerks. James Hickman should do that by typing the letter R in the chat function. There is no need for witnesses to turn on microphones, as we will do that for you. It is one less thing for you to think about.

My first question is for all of you, but I direct it first to Gilly Mendes Ferreira. You all support the principle of allowing tenants to keep pets in their homes. Will you say how that would benefit tenants?

That is all right. Please continue.

Thank you. What was the problem that you are trying to fix with the order through the provisions on the transfer of licences? What came up that made you feel that you needed to respond?

That is great. Yes—we will come to questions on the tribunal.

The next item on our agenda is an evidence session on the Housing (Scotland) Bill with two panels of witnesses. On the first panel, we are joined, in the room, by James Calder, who is the national policy and engagement officer for the Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project; Lucy Hughes, who is the policy and parliamentary manager at Engender; Kate Thompson, who is a policy officer for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland; and Jon Turner, who is the chief executive of the Link Group. We are joined online by Gerry Tierney, who is the housing advice team leader at Ayr Housing Aid Centre. I welcome you all to the meeting.

We turn to questions from members. We will try to direct our questions to specific witnesses where possible, but, if you would like to come in, please indicate clearly to me or the clerks. Gerry, you can do that by typing R in the chat box. There is no need to turn your microphones on and off—we will do that for you—so that is one less thing to think about.

I have a couple of general questions on the bill, which are open to you all to answer. Members will then have more specific questions. The Scottish Government has stated:

“The Bill contains a package of reforms which will help ensure people have a safe, secure, and affordable place to live.”

In general, I am interested to hear your thoughts on the extent to which the bill as a whole delivers those aims. I ask Lucy Hughes to come in first.