Seòmar agus comataidhean

You seem to have a clear set of asks. Have you presented a counter-proposal to Glasgow City Council and, if so, has that been well received or has the council ignored what you have tried to say about a reasonable set of counter-measures to what is clearly quite a blunt instrument which has already caused a 20 per cent reduction in the number of licences in the city?

The petition was lodged following a spate of violence in Glasgow city centre and surrounding areas that the petitioner brought to my attention earlier in the year. Since then, there have been several instances in which the level of violence on display has been absolutely horrifying, most notably in the case of 13-year-old Abbie Jarvis. I do not want to get into the specifics of the case—legal proceedings are under way and I do not want to prejudice them—but I point out that, following media coverage, this petition has become known as Abbie’s petition, and I know that my colleague Pauline McNeill MSP has been engaging with Abbie’s family to see what can be done to support them.

I would therefore like the petition to be kept open and progressed. I know that the Government has responded by setting out the measures that it is taking to try to reduce youth violence in Scotland, but I put it to the committee that those measures have not been adequate and that in big cities such as Glasgow—particularly in the city centre—the situation is getting worse. From my conversations with Police Scotland and the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, it appears that there is no one reason for the recent increase; indeed, the problem is multifaceted. I therefore think that the committee will benefit from hearing from the likes of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and, if they wish to appear before us, families who have been directly impacted by youth violence.

Thank you—that is helpful.

On the issue of limiting access to finance for small businesses, I note that sole traders are excluded from the bill’s consumer protections. Do you agree with that approach? Mirka, you said that there are other legislative remedies or protections that could be applied. I am interested to hear from both of you your thoughts on that exclusion from the consumer protections in the bill.

Just to be clear, would you be particularly concerned if consumers were excluded from the ambit of the bill?

Would you have any particular concerns if consumers were excluded from the ambit of the bill?

Another concern that was raised was about making sure that the data that is held on the register is accurate and can be updated easily. There are concerns that registers might contain disputed or out-of-date information, which could have a negative impact on individuals. Is there a need for more user-friendly corrections and dispute resolution processes, as exist for credit reference information?

I thank everyone for coming along. I want to cover privacy and consumer issues around the protection of information.

The registers will put personal information such as the name and address of an individual assignor or pledge provider into the public domain. An assignation record will also contain the assignation document, which will contain the details of the assignation. In some cases, that might enable individual customers to be identified, and anyone will be able to search the registers if they pay the required fee.

The Government has acknowledged that there are privacy issues. Paragraph 107 of the policy memorandum suggests that the Scottish ministers might consider limiting some search options or keeping certain information confidential in particular contexts to protect privacy. In evidence that we have taken, consumer and money advice organisations have highlighted concerns that the registers might contain information that is prejudicial to the interests of consumers. For example, there are frequently disputes between individuals and creditors about the accuracy of the information that is held by credit reference agencies.

Advice Direct Scotland raised concerns that the information in the registers could be used to make it easier to take debt enforcement action or that it could be used by credit reference agencies in a way that had a negative impact on consumers. ADS also raised concerns that the registers could contain out-of-date information about the loans that had been taken out by an individual. It called for clear and effective processes to correct errors and settle disputes. It would be possible to use the process that is set out in sections 96 and 97 of the bill to force a correction of the register of statutory pledges. However, if a creditor disagreed, the dispute would go to court. There is no process set out in the bill for making corrections to the register of assignations.

I want to touch on those issues, which have been raised in evidence that we have heard from other contributors. The registers will contain significant amounts of personal information. What measures are planned to protect individuals’ privacy?

Thanks very much for coming along this morning. I want to touch on one area that we have discussed with other witnesses. It might not exactly be part of your portfolios, but it will be interesting to get your insights nonetheless.

The main area of controversy is how the bill will relate to consumers. The committee has heard concerns from witnesses that the bill could facilitate for consumers a high-cost lending market—basically, virtual pawnbroking—through the statutory pledge, with comparisons being made to the logbook loans that exist in England.

There is no definition of what a consumer is in consumer legislation, but I note that there are definitions covering sole traders in both the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Consumer Scotland Act 2020. That is because, when buying goods and services outside of their area of expertise, sole traders can be at risk of the same sort of information imbalance as individual citizens. Bearing in mind the issue of additional protections for sole traders, do you think that there is a risk that the reforms proposed in the bill will open up a high-cost lending market for consumers and sole traders, with loans secured on both household items and business items that might be critical to a sole trader? How likely is that?

A similar example might be in how insurance companies can check the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s database for people who have points on their licence and have not declared that in their insurance applications. That might involve a similar concern to the one that Advice Direct Scotland has raised, about information on the registers being used in a way that could be detrimental to individuals, not necessarily with their knowledge—for example, on debt enforcement by credit reference agencies. Have you considered how access to the registers can be controlled so that individuals have sovereignty over their information?