GENERAL FUNCTIONS OF SCOTTISH HOMES (Hansard, 26 October 1988)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Lord James Douglas-Hamilton)
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
Section 71 of the Race Relations Act 1976 places local authorities under a statutory obligation to carry out their duties with regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups. The Government and, I hope, the House, agree wholeheartedly with the terms of that section and consider that the new housing agency, Scottish Homes, should be subject to the same provisions. I commend the amendment to the House.

§ Mr. John Home Robertson (East Lothian)
We welcome the fact that the Race Relations Act 1976 will apply to Scottish Homes. I wonder whether the principle could he extended to the composition of the agency? It seems unfortunate that representative Scots seem to be excluded and discriminated against in that composition. The Government have had to go to New York to find a chairman for it, and to England to find a chief executive, and another member of Scottish Homes, our old friend the Earl of Ancram, was last seen carrying a carpet bag around Epping Forest. It would be useful if the members of Scottish Homes could have some rights—if there could be discrimination in favour of people who are resident in Scotland, who intend to continue to reside there and who are representative of its people.
This said, we obviously support the extension of the provisions of the Race Relations Act to Scottish Homes.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
With the leave of the House, I may say to the hon. Gentleman that the board of Scottish Homes represents a fair cross-section of housing interests in Scotland. Both the chief executive and the chairman were born in Glasgow council houses— [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman should not be so disparaging about Glasgow, one of Scotland's great cities.