SECRETARY OF STATE'S POWER TO AUTHORISE REFUSAL TO SELL CERTAIN DWELLING HOUSES REQUIRED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES (Hansard, 21 May 1984)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Allan Stewart)
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Paul Dean)
With this we may take the following Lords amendments: No. 2, in page 3, leave out line 27 and insert 'A refusal by the landlord under'
No. 3, in page 3, line 29, leave out 'enable him to ascertain whether' and insert 'demonstrate that'
No. 4, in page 3, line 32, leave out from beginning to end of line 10 on page 4.

§ Mr. Stewart
It is with some reluctance that I recommend that the House should accept these amendments. Hon. Members will recall that the present clause 4 was generally welcomed when it was inserted into the Bill by Government amendment on Report, following undertakings that we had given in Committee, particularly to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mr. Craigen).
We introduced the new clause because we wished to be helpful to the islands councils, which had represented that they should not be required to sell teachers' houses on the islands because of the problems that that could create in outlying areas and in the remote islands—problems that were referred to in particular by hon. Members representing those areas. We had considered whether the islands councils might be left discretion in this matter, but we recognised that the teachers, who are secure tenants, also had an interest and it seemed to us to be unfair that teachers should be discriminated against and potentially denied the right to buy their houses simply because of the accident of their employment, and without there being any demonstrable link between the house and the tenant's employment other than the word of their landlord.
For that reason, as hon. Members know, we suggested as a compromise that the islands councils should be given the power to refuse to sell such houses, provided that they had the consent of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. I believe that this compromise was generally welcomed by the House on report as a fair solution to the problem of the islands, while protecting the interests of the teachers.
Before the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) leaps to his feet, let me say that I recognise that he specifically said that it would be better for the islands councils to retain discretion in this matter. As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary explained at the time, we did not regard this as acceptable because we felt that there was the possibility of a conflict of interest between the landlord and tenant and we therefore considered it undesirable that the landlord should be left 796 as sole judge in his own case. This was why we suggested that the decision should be taken by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, on the basis of evidence presented by the islands councils. A similar procedure already existed under the Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980 in the case of amenity housing for the elderly and disabled, and it has, I believe, worked to the satisfaction of both landlords and tenants.
The present amendments, however, will leave the islands councils sole judge in deciding whether or not to sell a particular house and a tenant will have no right of appeal agains their decision. This is without precedent in the tenants' rights legislation. If a teacher feels that this landlord has unfairly or unreasonably refused to sell him his house, there will be no one to whom he can turn for redress. That could lead to ill feeling and difficulty between the islands councils as landlords and a substantial group of their tenants.
In reconsidering the Government's position on this matter we have taken note of the report of the committee of inquiry into the functions and powers of the islands councils. The committee recommended that the islands councils should be left with discretion in the matter and should not be required to seek my right hon. Friend's consent before refusing to sell a house to a teacher.
It is generally recognised—it has been recognised in all the debates on this subject—that the islands councils are a special and unique case. The islands councils have represented that they are responsible bodies, and we accept that without reservation. We believe that if the islands councils are given discretion in this matter they 'will exercise it reasonably. The Government will, of course, monitor the situation carefully, and if there is any suggestion that the discretion is being abused, we shall need to reconsider the position. I hope that that will not be necessary.
On that basis, I recommend that the House should agree with the Lords in their amendments.

§ Mr. Jim Craigen (Glasgow, Maryhill)
I cannot resist congratulating the Minister on putting a brave face on the Lords amendments. In times past, I have described him as the movable tent at the Scottish Office. Try as he does, it is his misfortune that he has had to return to his housing portfolio of old.
The three islands councils have had a tortuous struggle to secure this minor concession in the legislation since it was first mooted in Committee. I asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Ancram), to think as an islander. As the Minister said, the Government had a certain flexibility at that stage, but in truth it has taken their Lordships, by 95 votes to 84, to impress upon the Government the need to budge. Moreover, the Montgomery committee, in chapter 14, put forward a persuasive case on the reasons why the Government should accept the amendment. Therefore, we welcome the fact that at last the Government have realised that there is no need for the heavy-handedness of the Secretary of State for Scotland with regard to the three islands councils.
The Minister said that the Government are leaving the respective councils as the sole judge. I have no doubt that, as all-purpose authorities, handling both housing and education, they will exercise the judgment of Solomon on these matters. It is sufficient for us to know that the 797 Government have acknowledged the different position of the islands councils, as all-purpose authorities. We are glad that the Government agree with the other place on this issue.

§ Mr. Donald Stewart (Western Isles)
I welcome the Government's acceptance of the amendments. As the islands councils have achieved this victory, I do not want to go over past history. With regard to the Western Isles council—it may be true of the Orkney and Shetland islands councils as well—I could not understand the Government's difficulty in allowing the councils to use their own judgment, because they fully met their obligations under the tenants' rights legislation. My council did so with regard to the sale of teachers' houses at Stornoway, where there was an ample housing stock, and it could be done without difficulty. I am delighted that the other place has concentrated the Government's mind in this excellent way.
The Minister says that the islands councils will be the sole judge. That could be an excellent precedent to follow in many similar situations.
While thanking the Government for their acceptance of the Lords Amendments, I would like also, on behalf of my council, to thank the hon. Member for Glasgow, Maryhill (Mr. Craigen) for his part in achieving this result.

§ Mr. James Wallace (Orkney and Shetland)
When asked by a gentleman of the press to comment on the vote in another place, I said that I hoped that the Government would show good sense and would not seek to overturn the amendment made there. I am glad to see that, in the end, good sense has prevailed.
The Minister said that the islands authorities were being given an unprecedented power. That is true, but only because the islands authorities are unitary authorities. On mainland Scotland, the education and housing functions are of course separated between the regional and district councils. I share the Minister's hope that the islands authorities will use their power in a responsible manner. As the right hon. Member for Western Isles (Mr. Stewart) pointed out, the islands authorities' record to date on the sale of council houses has been good. In the built-up areas in both Orkney and Shetland in particular, where there has been a supply of teachers' houses, the councils have been prepared to sell.
I welcome this move to give discretion to the local authorities because it is the local authorities which are best 798 placed to make local decisions. The fact that it has been left to the most undemocratic Chamber in the western world to defend the rights of local democracy is a telling comment on our present situation. However, I hope that the Government's behaviour may herald the reversal of the trend of the past few years towards concentrating decisions in the hands of the Secretary of State. I hope that there will be a trend towards a return to local democracy. In the meantime, for this small relief, much thanks.

§ Mr. John Maxton (Glasgow, Cathcart)
The Minister has said that an unprecedented power is being given to the islands authorities, but nothing of the sort is happening. Teachers under the islands authorities are merely being brought into line with teachers on islands such as Islay, Arran or Bute, which are under the authority of Strathclyde region and have no right to buy because they are under the education authority, and with the many other teachers living in school houses in remote rural areas throughout the mainland who have no right to buy. The islands authorities are simply being brought into line with every other local authority, and every other education authority, in the rest of Scotland. It makes sense not to have one unique group of teachers who have the right to buy their houses when no other group of teachers in Scotland has that right. The House of Lords has done no more than restore a small measure of sanity to a somewhat insane housing policy.
I hope that the ability to take their own decisions will be restored to all district and regional authorities. They should have the power to decide what they wish to do with their housing stock, of whatever sort it may be.

§ Mr. Allan Stewart
I shall refrain from responding to the latter remarks of the hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Maxton). I am glad that the Government's proposals have all-party support, and I commend them to the House.