The introduction of rent controls has received support from the majority of the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee.
The Housing (Scotland) Bill aims to improve housing outcomes for people who live in private rented accommodation and ensure a fair balance between protection for tenants and the rights of landlords. It comes as the Scottish Government and an increasing number of councils have declared housing emergencies.
In its report, the majority of the Committee welcomes the ambition in the provisions to re-balance the private rental sector and improve affordability for tenants. However, despite recent announcements from the Scottish Government about how the rent cap would operate in practice, the Committee has called for further clarity noting that continued uncertainty could impact investment within the sector, in turn impacting on choice and affordability for tenants.
The report also recognises that, in isolation, the Bill in itself is not the answer to the housing emergency, which has been caused by a range of factors, including the shortage of affordable and social housing, increased rents in the private sector, high inflation, freeze of housing allowance rates, labour shortages linked to Brexit, and cuts in Scotland’s capital funding settlement from the UK Government.
However, the Bill does have a role to play in better balancing tenants’ rights with landlords’ needs.
Speaking as the report launched yesterday, Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said:“We are currently in the midst of a housing emergency and this Bill is an important part of the solution to address that by redressing the imbalance in the relationship between tenants and landlords.
“For rent controls to be effective, however, there is a need for certainty for both tenants and landlords about measures within the Bill and how the proposals will work. It’s disappointing that it was only last week that the Housing Minister made an announcement about how rent controls might work.
“The Bill before us does not provide detail on many aspects of how the legislation will operate, and with consultation on some aspects of the Bill continuing until 2025, there will be little room for parliamentary scrutiny in an area which is critical to get right for the long-term sustainability of the private rental sector.”
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The Bill also puts in place requirements for the collection of data from private landlords in order to make a case for the creation of local rent control area . But with the onus on local authorities to collect and monitor the data, the Committee is concerned that there is a lack of resource to deliver that requirement which could hinder the effective use of rent control areas.
The Convener continued:“For rent controls to work, there must be accurate data but the Bill before us has no clear plans for robust data collection. This is why our report recommends that there is a national approach to data collection to help assess rental markets.
“We would also like to see the onus put on landlords by creating a requirement for them to routinely provide data rather than only respond to requests from local authorities.”
The Committee also welcomed measures within the Bill which support tenants’ rights to personalise their homes and their right to own pets.
It also makes recommendations for there to be more support for tenants in exercising their rights, and for landlords too to help them better understand their duties, saying that legislation is not enough on its own to achieve the necessary balance between tenants and landlords’ rights.
A Bill which aims to support those affected by faulty cladding has today been welcomed. However, more clarity is needed on the proposed legislation which aims to address the cladding issues raised following the Grenfell tragedy.
Holyrood’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee has been examining the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill. In its stage 1 report on the Bill published today, the Committee has called for a clearer picture of how it will help secure remedial action for affected properties.
Measures within the Bill would give Scottish Ministers powers to assess and remediate buildings with unsafe cladding, including where consent of the owners cannot be provided.
The proposals also include the creation and maintenance of a Cladding Assurance Register to give residents confidence about the assessment and works undertaken once those buildings are remediated.
However, the Committee’s report has called for more detail on how the measures within it will be delivered and the report noting repeated evidence of the skills shortages in the sectors that are essential to deliver the Bill’s ambition.
The report also stresses the importance of improving communication for those people affected both from the Scottish Government and developers.
Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said:“These proposals are a positive step in the right direction. But what has also been clear from the evidence is there is still more clarity needed to ensure that the remedial action needed will be completed. The progress of which has been concerningly slow.
“People have been deeply affected by these issues, and there must also be an improvement in the communication to those living in affected buildings. This includes clearer timescales for the work to take place and more detail of the remedial action being done.
“Our Committee also wants to thank the residents affected, many of whom took the time to tell us how these issues have affected every aspect of their lives.”
Hundreds of people are being moved out of their council homes in Aberdeen after the houses were found to contain potentially dangerous concrete panels.
Thousands of council homes in the city were checked for the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). It was found to be in about 500 homes in the Balnagask area of Torry, including 364 council properties.
A Holyrood Committee will return from the February recess next week to begin a short inquiry into the Scottish Government’s Housing to 2040 strategy.
Holyrood’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee will start a short inquiry on Tuesday (20th February) with a roundtable of representatives from the Strategy Board for Housing to 2040 to probe progress on the Scottish Government strategy and route map.
The second evidence session, currently planned for the 27th of February, will see further roundtable discussions with stakeholders including Living Rent, Communities Housing Trust, Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Property Federation, Shelter, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Citizens Advice Scotland, and Professor Ken Gibb from the University of Glasgow, to provide the Committee with additional views on Scotland’s housing landscape.
Published in March 2021, the strategy seeks to deliver on the Scottish Government’s ambition for everyone to have a safe, good quality and affordable home that meets their needs in the place they want to be.
However, three years after the plan’s publication, statistics show that Scotland’s housing emergency is intensifying.
Decreases have been reported in the number of new homes of all tenures being started and completed, with Scottish Government figures for the year to the end of September 2023 revealing a 6% fall in all sector completions and that starts are down by 24%.
With falling numbers of new homes being built and completed across several local authorities in recent months, a growing number have declared housing emergencies as building rates stall.
Commenting, Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee Convener, Ariane Burgess MSP said: “Scotland’s housing emergency continues to grow, and the Committee want to understand what impact this is having on the ambitions set out by the Scottish Government’s Housing to 2040 strategy and whether the strategy provides the necessary tools to adequately respond.
“Our short inquiry will allow us to look at the strategies effectiveness in meeting housing needs, promoting placemaking, ensuring accessibility and affordability, fostering sustainability, and guaranteeing safety and quality.
“Everyone should have access to safe, sustainable, and affordable housing which can deliver thriving communities for generations to come in every part of Scotland and we hope our scrutiny of Scottish Government plans can ensure this aspiration remains on track.”
‘potential to be a positive force for the tourism sector’
The majority of members on the Holyrood Committee considering the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill have supported the general principles behind the legislation, which would allow Scottish local authorities to introduce an overnight accommodation levy, following extensive consultation.
Publishing its Stage 1 Report today, the Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee said that a majority of members of the Committee support the general principles of the Bill and a majority of members again found that it was “unlikely that the introduction of a levy in certain local authority areas, assuming a relatively modest rate, would have a deterrent effect on visitor numbers and therefore on the visitor economy in Scotland.”
Conservative MSPsMiles Briggs and Pam Gosal did not support several of the report’s conclusions or the general principles behind the Bill.
A majority of members however agreed with evidence from stakeholders which suggested the introduction of a levy has “the potential to bring significant benefits to visitors, the tourism sector and local residents” whilst recognising that not all of Scotland’s local authorities are expected to introduce a levy and therefore benefit directly from the Bill.
Supporting the Bill’s provision to give local authorities the ability to choose whether to introduce a levy and how to apply it locally, a majority of members of the Committee welcome “the degree of flexibility” provided and believe that this will allow councils to “design and implement it in a way that suits local circumstances.”
The Committee also recognised business concerns around the timing of the legislation, following the impact of COVID-19 on Scotland’s tourism sector and the increased costs of doing business, as well as recent changes to short-term lets licensing.
The Report also said the Committee was “mindful of the concerns of accommodation providers that the introduction of a levy could result in an additional administrative burden” and welcomed the Bill’s requirements to implement localised monitoring and reporting to ensure transparency and accountability.
Considering if any levy should be a flat or percentage rate, the Committee considered this was “perhaps the most difficult aspect of the Bill in terms of determining what the right approach should be” and invited the Scottish Government to undertake further work on this area of the Bill to find a suitable solution.
The majority of members of the Committee agreed that “meaningful consultation with the tourism and accommodation sector to create a genuine sense of partnership working” would “help alleviate the concerns of many in the sector” and show that a levy should bring “long-term benefits” by improving the experience of visitors to areas where a levy is applied.
The earliest date a visitor levy could be applied by local authorities is 2026, which a majority of members of the Committee considered would provide enough time for any “outstanding issues to be resolved through engagement and consultation” with businesses and other key stakeholders.
However, the Committee also invited the Scottish Government to respond to suggestions from some councils that they should be able to introduce a levy sooner than 2026.
Commenting, Committee Convener, Ariane Burgess MSP said:“In supporting the Visitor Levy Bill at Stage 1, a majority of the members of the Committee recognise its potential to positively impact Scotland’s tourism sector.
“After thorough consultation and consideration, most members of the Committee have supported the core principles of the legislation, emphasising that a well-designed levy, at a modest rate, shouldn’t discourage visitors and should bring benefits for the tourism sector.
“A majority of the members of the Committee welcomed and support the flexibility provided by the Bill, which will enable local authorities to customise the levy’s implementation meaning that local levies are designed to suit local circumstances.
“Understanding concerns from businesses and being mindful of possible administrative burdens, a majority of members of the Committee believe that industry worries can be resolved through constructive engagement and consultation at the local level, ahead of any levy being introduced in 2026.
“For the majority of the members of the Committee the Visitor Levy Bill has the potential to be a positive force for the tourism sector, and thank the individuals, organisations and other stakeholders who provided evidence to inform this report.”
A Holyrood Committee visited a building with potentially dangerous cladding in the Leith area on Tuesday this week to meet with residents and hold talks with a fire safety expert.
The visit followed the launch of a call for views on legislation which would give Scottish Ministers new powers to assess and remediate buildings in Scotland with unsafe cladding, following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.
The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, which is leading scrutiny of the plans, is now encouraging other people in Edinburgh, who live in or own properties with potentially dangerous cladding, to respond to the public consultation on the Scottish Government’s Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill.
The legislation seeks to give Scottish Ministers powers to assess and remediate buildings with unsafe cladding, including where consent of the owners cannot be provided.
Under proposals in the Bill, the Scottish Government would also create and maintain a Cladding Assurance Register to give residents confidence about the assessment and works undertaken once those buildings are remediated.
The Bill would also give Ministers the power to establish a Responsible Developers Scheme, to support engagement by developers and encourage them to pay for or carry out remediation work.
Such a scheme would likely include agreement to pay for remediation costs by developers, with potential sanctions for developers that are eligible but do not join or fail to comply with the terms of membership.
As the Scottish Government has not carried out public consultation on the Bill, the Committee’s call for views will be critical in providing stakeholders including owners and residents of properties in buildings with potentially unsafe cladding, developers, insurers, surveyors, and fire safety experts an opportunity to comment on the proposals.
The call for views is now open and runs until Friday 8th December 2023.
Following the visit, Committee Convener, Ariane Burgess MSP, said: “Cladding was a major contributing factor to the fire which destroyed Grenfell Tower in June 2017, one of the UK’s worst modern disasters, and we want people in Edinburgh to have their say on this new Bill.
“Visiting a property affected by cladding alongside one of Scotland’s leading fire safety experts gave us a real insight into the risks that residents are currently forced to live with and the substantial challenges behind the remediation work needed in buildings like the one we visited, right across the country.
“Meeting with Edinburgh residents living in a property with potentially unsafe cladding allowed us to discuss the impact this is having on them financially through increased insurance rates and the increased levels of anxiety and fear that comes along with living with the heightened fire risks.
“As our consultation is the only opportunity for the public to comment on the proposals in the new Bill, we are encouraging people in Edinburgh who live in or own properties with potentially dangerous cladding to respond before the 8th December.
“The Committee understands the urgency in addressing the issue of unsafe cladding, and this Bill represents a critical step towards achieving safer conditions for all those affected in the Lothian area.”
Chartered Building Surveyor and fire safety expert, Phil Diamond, who accompanied the Committee on the visit said: “It was good to see Brooker Diamond’s involvement in North Edinburgh recognised by the committee’s visit.
“We carried out the Single Building Assessment which is a very complex process and the development posed many varied challenges which will require a comprehensive scheme of remediation.
“We look forward to contributing to the assessment programme and remediation of more blocks across Scotland and help to make homes safer as part of the future work flowing from the Cladding Remediation Bill.”
HOLYROOD COMMITTEE HEARS OF CONCERNS FIRST HAND FROM HOME OWNERS AFFECTED IN EDINBURGH
The site visit by the entire committee charged with leading scrutiny of this Bill, gave credence to the seriousness of their intent to ensure that the proposals are properly understood and reviewed by the MSPs.
The urgent and important need to address the issues in domestic residential accommodation, of risk to life and property, is recognised by the introduction of this bill in an expedited process.
If approved by the Scottish Parliament, then the Royal Assent could be on or before 24 July 2024. It could then have a commencement date at the beginning of September 2024.
Chris Ashurst – the Group Coordinator of High Rise Scotland Action Group said: “ I wholeheartedly welcome the committee’s pro-active efforts to understand the concerns, experiences and perspectives of those living in ‘high-rise’ homes.
“It is their safety physical and mental, and the safety of their homes and property which is and must be the supreme concern of the legislator, and must shape the new law.
“Owners have been able to express: –
their dismay at suggestions that the very builders who caused the problems, might instruct their own appointed surveyors and professional advisors to decide what defects need to be remedied and, or, decide on and implement their own remediation or mitigation measures.
The conflict of interest and the financial liability could, (and would be) seen by owners as reason to mistrust and doubt the integrity of any such assessment or plan. It remains to be seen what confidence lenders and insurers would place in such a process
The feeling that the revised criteria introduced in December 2021 are too rigid, and that no building would be able to satisfy them. The frustration on the part of some that the widened brief had exceeded the original one to an unacceptable degree and that there should be some element of grading of risk, based on an assessor’s professional assessment of any risk.
“I wholeheartedly endorse the request from the Convenor of the Committee that owners should make submit their views in the consultation to them by Friday 8 December using the links provided.”
A Holyrood Committee has launched a new call for views on legislation which would give Scottish Ministers new powers to assess and remediate buildings in Scotland with unsafe cladding, following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.
The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, which is leading scrutiny of the plans, has now launched a public consultation on the Scottish Government’s Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill.
The legislation seeks to give Scottish Ministers powers to assess and remediate buildings with unsafe cladding, including where consent of the owners cannot be provided.
Under proposals in the Bill, the Scottish Government would also create and maintain a Cladding Assurance Register to give residents confidence about the assessment and works undertaken once those buildings are remediated.
The Bill would also give Ministers the power to establish a Responsible Developers Scheme, to support engagement by developers and encourage them to pay for or carry out remediation work.
Such a scheme would likely include agreement to pay for remediation costs by developers, with potential sanctions for developers that are eligible but do not join or fail to comply with the terms of membership.
As the Scottish Government has not carried out public consultation on the Bill, the Committee’s call for views will be critical in providing stakeholders including owners and residents of properties in buildings with potentially unsafe cladding, developers, insurers, surveyors, and fire safety experts an opportunity to comment on the proposals.
The call for views is open now and will run until Friday 8th December 2023.
Committee Convener, Ariane Burgess MSP, said: “Cladding was a major contributing factor to the fire which destroyed Grenfell Tower in June 2017, one of the UK’s worst modern disasters.
“We’ve launched our call for views on the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill, as it provides the first opportunity for public input on the proposals.
“It’s vital that we hear from the owners and residents of property in buildings with potentially unsafe cladding, to hear if this Bill addresses their concerns, as well as from industry professionals and developers about their views.
“The Committee understands the urgency in addressing the issue of unsafe cladding, and this Bill represents a critical step towards achieving safer conditions for all those affected.”
The first panel included Brian Davey and Emma Swift from the Improvement Service (IS), which provides resources and support to community councillors and Community Council Liaison Officers (CCLOs), alongside Dr Oliver Escobar from the University of Edinburgh and Andrew Paterson from Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC).
Jackie Weaver, who became a household name during the pandemic thanks to her firm handling of a contentious parish council meeting, was also on the panel to provide insight on the significant differences between Community Councils in Scotland and Town and Parish Councils in England, where she works for the Cheshire Association of Local Councils.
Community Councils vs Town and Parish Councils
Committee convener Arianne Burgess MSP got the ball rolling with a question about the strengths of Community Councils and what role they could play in democratic renewal at a local level.
Dr Escobar highlighted the important role that Community Councils can play at the heart of their communities, despite having to work in difficult circumstances, while Emma Swift from the IS mentioned the vital support that many Community Councils provided during the pandemic – and how that resilience work has continued to address other challenges.
The committee was particularly interested in the differences between Community Councils in Scotland and the Town and Parish Council system in England, and Jackie Weaver was able to explain in some detail how the system differs north and south of the border:
“Over my 25-year career, there has been an enormous change in England. Twenty-five years ago, our town and parish councils were very much like your community councils except that they had tax raising powers, although they did not do very much with them.
“We have seen central government funding for our principal authorities in England reduce dramatically and we have seen town and parish councils stepping up and filling the gaps.
“The assumption is that anybody trying to raise money by tax will be attacked: nobody likes paying tax. One of the unique points about a town or parish council, however, is that you can see that every penny that is raised is spent locally.
“The other thing that we are able to do is borrow money. We have a number of councils that take on large infrastructure projects. Clearly, if you are a parish council with perhaps 10,000 electors, you will not be able to raise half a million pounds just through your council tax without it having a serious impact on a household’s budget. We are able to borrow money and we are seeing an increase in the amount of money that our town and parish councils are borrowing to deliver serious infrastructure.
“One of the things that is absolutely essential for us to succeed as a movement is proper support. We have 10,000 parish councils and an army of about 7,500 clerks who manage those. We provide support, advice, guidance, help and so on to about 240 parish councils in Cheshire, and that costs our principal authorities £7,000 a year. We are talking peanuts, but what it delivers on the ground because of the way that we work is something really exceptional.”
Legal status of Community Councils
Ivan McKee MSP raised questions about how Community Councils are perceived, given the differences in how they operate across the country and even within local authority areas.
Dr Escobar spoke about how difficult it can be for Community Councils to operate effectively because they simply do not have the powers to carry out many of the activities which are needed in their local area. This can make it difficult to recruit new community councillors, which means that Community Councils are often not representative of the communities they serve.
There are, however, very clear legal reasons why Community Councils are unable to provide some of the same services as Town and Parish Councils, as Emma Swift explained:
“The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 created community councils as unincorporated bodies, which is why they cannot do community asset transfers. It also excludes them from some funding applications. The conditions of funding applications sometimes say, “You must be an incorporated body”.
“There are things such as local place plans that they can get involved in and use to create ideas about what they want in their local community, with the idea that the local authority can then take some of those ideas forward. However, they are always reliant on other people to take those ideas forward because of the restrictions that have been placed on them right from the start.”
Planning and Community Engagement
Willie Coffey MSP raised the issue of planning, and particularly whether Community Councils have access to the proper expertise and resources to help them navigate the planning system.
Dr Escobar highlighted the survey of community councillors from 2019, in which most respondents identified public and community engagement as the area in which they wanted more support.
Emma Swift spoke about the partnership between the Improvement Service and the Open University, which provides free access to online courses in a range of relevant skills for community councillors, as well as the partnerships we have developed with other organisations such as Sustrans, Scottish Tech Army and Geoxphere to share their existing resources and tools with Community Councils.
Parish and Town Councils also have a role in the planning process, but Jackie Weaver warned against creating “an army of new planners”; community councillors need to be able to navigate and understand the system, but don’t need to become experts in planning to do that.
Mark Griffin MSP asked about community engagement, and how Community Councils ensure that their views are representative and not just that of individual members.
Dr Escobar referred back to his point about Community Councils needing to be representative to give them legitimacy, and went on to speak about the difficult position that Community Councils find themselves in and how this could be resolved:
“We have had Community Councils for 50 years and, although we need to celebrate the achievement, I think that the time has come to either reform or rebuild.
“We could reform Community Councils so that we have one of the most decentralised systems of governance, as we should do if we want to tackle issues locally and nationally. Alternatively, we could rebuild them. We could just start again if people do not want to reform them as they are.
“However, that reform is not just about Community Councils. If you think carefully and place Community Councils on a map and see the connections that they have to community planning partnerships, local government, health and social care integration boards, third sector interfaces and the planning process, you realise that, if you had highly functioning, dynamic, participative and inclusive Community Councils, you could unlock a lot of potential in those systems of local government that do not work well at the moment.
“It is not a silver bullet, but it is not far from it if we bite the bullet and do that reform.”
Community Empowerment Act
Miles Briggs MSP asked about the impact of the Community Empowerment Act, which Emma Swift pointed out is a mixed bag for Community Councils because of their unincorporated status; some parts of the legislation apply to Community Councils, while other sections require the work to be taken forward by development trusts or SCIOs (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations).
The panel then made their concluding remarks, including the importance of involving Community Councils themselves in any local democracy discussions and consultation.
Dr Escobar summed up his thoughts on the way forward for Community Councils: “My main concluding point is to say that surely the time has come – we have got to do this.
“Some people might ask whether we should spend time on such reform and whether people care about it. People care about having better places to live in, having better local services, improving their life condition and addressing things such as the cost of living crisis. All those things require a vibrant combination of local institutions that can make things happen.
“Community councils have to be part of that, and they have been part of that in many places. We need to learn and to go for the reform. The problem is not about knowing what to do but about knowing how to do it.”
The second panel featured community councillors from across Scotland, with representatives from Moray, West Lothian, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, Shetland and Aberdeenshire, as well as Debra Duke, Community Councils Liaison Officer in Moray, who has also worked as a parish clerk in England.
Individual Community Councils were represented as well as forums and associations of Community Councils in West Lothian, Moray, Shetland and Edinburgh.
This session provided a unique opportunity for community councillors to speak about the range of work they carry out across Scotland, including innovative projects like the Cambuslang Bank Hub, as well as raising concerns about the difficulties they face and making suggestions for how Community Councils can be improved in the future.
Community Councils and Local Authorities
Community councillors were asked about the relationship with their local authorities and the support provided by the Improvement Service through the Scottish Community Councils website and the Knowledge Hub group, where community councillors can share best practice and ask each other questions.
Bill Pitt, of New Aberdour, Tyrie and Pennan Community Council, highlighted the importance of the relationship between Community Councils and the local council: “As a Community Council, we do not work in a vacuum; we work very closely with Aberdeenshire Council and it is a two-way street.
“We need the council as much as possible and we appreciate and respect its assistance, including from individual departments and so forth.
“Aberdeenshire Council and other local authorities need Community Councils. We are the eyes and the ears for the local authority. It is very important for Community Councils to work with the local authority to identify particular funds that might be available and solutions that we can work together on.
“Working closely with the local authority is the most important thing that we can do, because it has the expertise to point us in certain directions in areas that we might need some guidance on.”
John Bachtler of Cambuslang Community Council spoke about the work South Lanarkshire Council has done to support community councillors to understand the planning system, including the creation of a toolkit to help Community Councils navigate issues around planning.
The Joint Forum of Community Councils in West Lothian, represented at this event by Donald Stavert, enjoys a very positive relationship with West Lothian Council, meeting the chief executive twice a year; though Donald was at pains to point out that this good working relationship doesn’t stop them from criticising West Lothian Council when they need to!
The Joint Forum has also worked closely with the Improvement Service over the last 18 months, including an ultimately unsuccessful joint bid for Scottish Government funding to support the use of the Consul software for community engagement.
In talking about the difficulties faced by Community Councils as a result of their unincorporated status under the 1973 legislation, Steve Kerr of Edinburgh Association of Community Councils was clear that there needs to be a change: “Frankly, I believe that we need to go back to the drawing board.
“We need to go back to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and free up some of those opportunities and to remove some of the restrictions that were placed on community councils in the act.
“We can be involved locally in agitating for a community asset transfer for a community centre—which we did, representing the community council—but we cannot be physically involved, which, quite honestly, is an inhibitor.
“That would be something that would be appreciated by the community because we could be at the forefront of things. We do play a co-ordinating role but I do not think that it is widely appreciated as it might be.”
CCLO support for Community Councils
Debra Duke, CCLO at Moray Council, was able to bring her unique perspective of both the Scottish and English systems, having previously worked as a parish clerk in England.
As well as many of the same points about clerk support and tax raising powers mentioned by Jackie Weaver, Debra also impressed on the committee the need for Community Councils to be supported by good governance through policies and working practices.
She highlighted that these are often shared between local authorities, as many CCLOs only work part-time or have other roles to perform: “I work 20 hours a week; I have 17 established community councils, but I could have 20. I am just firefighting and I am finding that I cannot put in place the proper support that the councils need.
“The Improvement Service delivered a brilliant session of social media training to the Northern Alliance of community council liaison officers last year; it was a train-the-trainer session, but I have not had the time to pass that training on to the Moray councils.
“Everyone is quite stretched and no one has enough time or resources. If Community Councils had more resources to, say, employ secretaries, that would really strengthen their ability to carry out the work that they need to do.”
Future of Community Councils
On the future of Community Councils, Donald Stavert spoke about a blueprint which had been developed by all the West Lothian Community Councils before the pandemic, and which was going to be the main subject for discussion at a national conference organised by the Joint Forum of Community Councils in West Lothian for 10 June.
The issue of funding for Community Councils was raised by Bill Pitt, who pointed out that Community Councils provide an excellent return on investment:
“Someone on the previous panel said that there are something in the neighbourhood of 1,200 community councils in Scotland; if you look at the budget numbers—that is, at the admin grants received by the Community Councils from the local authority—you will see that, at the high end, they might get £1,000.
“In other words, £1.2 million of public money funds community councils throughout Scotland, and we can see how much Scotland and its communities gain from that little bit of money and that very small investment.
“Clearly, if what we are looking at is Community Councils being given more powers—or whatever the future might hold for them—we can only imagine what return we might get if the councils had serious funding.”
Recruiting young people to Community Councils
All the panellists had something to say about the difficulties of recruiting young people to join Community Councils, as well as the various methods and initiatives that they have used to try and attract a younger demographic.
Alastair Kennedy, from the Joint Community Councils of Moray, highlighted an initiative where they gave a group of local youngsters £50,000 from the Investing in Communities Fund to run their own participatory budgeting exercise, to make sure that the money was being spent on something important to them.
Cambuslang Community Council has reached out to local youth groups and has involved students on the Community Development course at Glasgow University in individual projects, while Shayne McLeod from the Association of Shetland Community Councils spoke about their work with the local Scottish Youth Parliament member and a local project called OPEN, which has seen young people set up and run their own committee.
Barry Cathie, himself a relatively young community councillor from Rutherglen, was clear about the importance of involving young people in the process: “We need a voice of young people in the community.
“At the moment, there is not much for them to get involved in. They cannot really voice their concerns. If they come to meetings on subjects that they are interested in, their voices will be heard and they can bring their experience to us and tell us things that they know that we do not know.
“It will also give them training in how to become involved, and how to become a community councillor when the time comes—I think that people need to be over 18 to get elected. It is good to have that because, as I say, it gives them a voice and improves their image in the community as they become better people.”
The final words of the session came from John Bachtler, who urged the committee to be bold in their actions:“I wanted to personally encourage the committee to go for significant reform, because there is a real democratic deficit. I work on regional local development across Europe.
“We have virtually the poorest community empowerment and representation structures in Europe, given the absence of a community level of influence.
“We have towns of 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 people that are without any form of self-government. I encourage the committee to think radically.”
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill will be the focus of a new public consultation launched today by the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee.
The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in May 2023.
If passed, the legislation will give local authorities the ability to add an additional charge to overnight accommodation if they choose to do so. This will be based on a percentage of the cost, with the rate set by individual councils.
The Committee is seeking views from businesses, tourism organisations, community groups, individuals, and other key stakeholders over the summer ahead of its consideration of the general principles of the Bill.
Following the consultation period, the Committee will listen to the views of stakeholders before producing a report setting out its findings. MSPs will then debate the Bill in the Chamber and decide whether it should proceed.
The Committee is launching the call for views ahead of a meeting in Kirkwall later today with Destination Orkney to discuss their views on the Bill.
Commenting on the launch, Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said: “We’ve now launched a call for views on the Scottish Government’s Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill and want to hear from as wide a range of communities, tourism organisations, businesses, and individuals as possible to inform our scrutiny.
“Tourism is one of Scotland’s leading growth industries, contributing more than £4 billion to our economy each year, so ensuring these proposals work for those connected to the industry is essential.
“The Bill provides a framework for local authorities to decide how money raised should be spent within local communities, how flexible they can be with where and when the levy would apply and whether certain exemptions should apply, all of which we want to gather detailed views on from urban, rural and island communities across Scotland.”
The call for views will run from Monday 26th June 2023 to Friday 1 September.
Those wishing to respond can choose to provide a detailed response to the Committee about the Bill or make brief and general comments, joining the conversation about the Bill on the Committee’s engagement website.
The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee is holding a session on community councils to coincide with the 50th anniversary of their establishment in Scotland, with two panels of witnesses scheduled to give evidence.
As part of the first panel the Committee will hear from Jackie Weaver who rose to fame after a video of her managing a virtual meeting of Handforth Parish Council went viral in 2021.
The Committee has invited Jackie Weaver to share her insights and experiences in local governance and management, particularly in relation to supporting parish councils.
The Committee will also hear from a panel of community councillors representing Edinburgh, Shetland, Aberdeenshire, West Lothian, Moray, Clackmannanshire and Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire who will provide evidence in a roundtable format.
The session is part of the Committee’s ongoing work looking at the Scottish Government’s Local Governance Review which aims to reform the way that Scotland is governed to give greater control to communities.
Ariane Burgess MSP – Green
Commenting ahead of the meeting, Committee Convener, Ariane Burgess MSP said: “Fifty years on from the establishment of Community Councils, it’s important that we recognise and celebrate the contributions that individuals and groups involved make to their communities.
“We also hope this session can contribute towards shaping the Scottish Government’s Local Governance Review, ensuring communities continued to be empowered and supported to do so in the decades ahead.
“The Committee are looking forward to welcoming Jackie Weaver and Community Councillors from all over Scotland to share their experiences of community involvement in decision making, and their views on how this can be improved.”
Appearing today before the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, the Edinburgh Festivals call for the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government to look again at the inclusion of residents’ personal primary homes in the planned short term lets legislation.
The Festivals welcome plans by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government to extend the licensing date for existing hosts, as a valuable opportunity to reconsider how the national framework is being interpreted across the country, and to adjust provisions at the margins to avoid unintended consequences.
Commenting ahead of her Committee appearance, Julia Amour, Director of Festivals Edinburgh said: “Edinburgh’s Festivals are frustrated at the extent of plans to regulate brief stays in residents’ personal primary homes – compared to commercial secondary lets where we understand the need for regulation – especially when the regulatory plans have no apparent regard to the collection of evidence or the assessment of impact.”
Speaking to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee this morning, Ms Amour will ask Committee members to note the following:
Personal primary letting (home-sharing or home-letting) is being conflated with the more complex area of commercial secondary letting whereas it needs to be treated differently
Personal primary letting has no effect on the current housing crisis, given that it is simply individuals using their own homes rather than purchasing additional properties
Personal primary letting is being treated similarly to commercial lets, in terms of regulations and costs, having an effect on income opportunities for residents in their own homes during a cost of living crisis
The national regulation scheme excludes certain categories (eg visiting homestay students where arrangements have been approved by an educational institution) and so why not others (eg visiting homestay event workers)
The Committee will also be asked to note that although the Cabinet Secretary has said temporary exemptions of up to six weeks do not need to comply with mandatory and additional licence conditions, the City of Edinburgh Council has decided to apply many such conditions to temporary exemptions for primary letting.
Ms Armour said: “These local interpretations highlight that the provision in the framework for local temporary exemptions is not achieving its intended purpose, and we now have an opportunity to look at this again and apply an exclusion at national level.
“The Edinburgh Festivals are concerned that these developments will be a serious disincentive to city residents who want to open their own homes to guests for a brief period.
“Without the use of primary home lets, the Festivals estimate that 27% of people in the city for August peak season would not be able to find accommodation, with such lets of particular importance to the workers, artists and performers who transform Edinburgh into the world-leading festival city.
“The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society estimates a third of their programme could be lost in 2024. This contraction would obviously have a negative impact on the 4,000+ jobs and over £200m in direct additional economic impact which the Festivals bring, as well as weakening the wider leisure and visitor economy employing 44,000 in Edinburgh alone.”
Ms Amour will conclude: “We ask the Committee to recommend that Scottish Government consider excluding primary residential letting activity (home-sharing and home-letting) for major festivals and events from the proposed legislation, in the knowledge that such activity has no effect on the housing crisis in the city and will safeguard the major economic, cultural and social opportunities that the festivals provide to city residents and to Scotland as a whole.”
