Today we debated a Bill which doesn’t exactly set the heather on fire but which is important nonetheless.
The Housing Amendment Scotland Bill looks on the face of it to be quite narrow and technical – a bit dull you might think. But while it does deal with quite specific accounting issues, of interest to, well, accountants, its implications will be far-reaching.
If this Bill does not go through – and I am sure it will – then it would make it extremely difficult for housing associations to deliver their part in meeting the government’s affordable homes target.
Now, while that might give opposition spokesmen like me an opportunity to kick Kevin Stewart – an enjoyable pastime – it would not be very responsible. So we will be supporting the Bill at this stage and beyond. I think it is useful to put what this is all about into plain English. I will have a go anyway.
Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) – housing associations – were classed as private bodies for accounting purposes until the Office for National Statistics decided to change their status to public bodies. The effect of this though is that any borrowing they do counts against the Scottish Government’s borrowing limits, which in turn means that the government might have to limit what RSLs can borrow, which would not be good. You can see the problem.
But in order to remove those shackles you would have to reclassify RSLs as private sector bodies. However, you would not expect a private sector body to be so tightly regulated as our housing associations are by the Housing Regulator. That level of public sector control was one of the reasons behind the Office for National Statistics' switch in the first place and you can see where they were coming from. So if we are to take RSLs back into the private sector then we also have to rein back on the regulator’s powers.
The Bill tackles this, with the end result being that housing associations will enjoy more freedoms and be able to deliver more. It’s fair to say that there hasn’t been a great deal of interest in this outside of the sector.
Overall, it is a sensible Bill one which should proceed without fuss through its stages.
You can watch my full speech above.