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This paper provides a summary of the responses to the consultation document Better Homes for Scotland's Communities: The Executive's Proposals for the Housing Bill, published by the Scottish Executive on 5 July 2000. The consultation document invited comment on the detailed proposals for the Housing Bill. The document outlined proposals in the following broad categories:

Tenants of social landlords

Scottish Homes

Regulation of social landlords

Strategic housing functions of local authorities

Homelessness and allocation of housing

Grants for improvement, repairs etc

A statistical analysis of the responses and a short summary of the main points are set out below. A list of respondents (other than those who requested confidentiality) is shown in Annex 1 and more detailed summaries of the responses to the proposals set out in the document are provided in Table 1.

The summaries represent a faithful attempt to reflect the views of respondents but should not be regarded as being definitive of those views or of reflecting the views of the Scottish Executive. Copies of the full responses (other than those where confidentiality was requested) are available for consultation in the Scottish Executive Library, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD. (tel. 0131 244 4564).

The consultation period ran from 5 July until 29 September 2000. During this time 3,300 copies of the consultation paper, and a further 500 copies of a short summary of the document, were sent out by the Executive.

Those receiving a copy of the consultation paper included the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, lenders, local authority officials, housing association officers, voluntary organisations, tenants' groups, church organisations, MSPs, MPs, MEPs, UK government departments, various organisations involved in equalities issues and a range of business and professional organisations and individuals. The document follows on from the Green Paper Investing in Modernisation: An Agenda for Scotland's Housing, which was published by the UK Government in February 1999. Copies were also sent to all those who had responded to the Green Paper.

In addition to seeking written responses through the publication of the consultation document, Ministers and housing officials spoke at a number of conferences and meetings across Scotland. The Chartered Institute of Housing, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, the Civic Forum, the Glasgow Council for the Single Homeless and the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, the Scottish Tenants Organisation, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Shelter and Tenant Involvement in the Islands, Grampian and Highland Rural Areas all hosted one or more of these events. There were also open meetings in Kirkwall and Lerwick, which contributed to a total of 24 events. These meetings typically involved a presentation on the Housing Bill followed by a question and answer session in which the Executive's proposals could be discussed in some detail. The opportunities for dialogue that these meetings afforded were an important and useful complement to the formal, written responses to the consultation paper.

There were 246 responses to the consultation document. These are outlined by category of respondent in Figure 1 below. The respondents were classified into the following categories: academic institutions, business organisations, community bodies including tenants' organisations, housing associations, individuals, local authorities, professional bodies and trade unions, voluntary sector and others.

Of the 246 formal responses to the consultation document, most welcomed the general thrust of the Bill while offering views on some of the specific proposals. Many respondents also commented positively on the openness of the debate and welcomed the opportunity to express their views. Responses often built on discussions that respondents had had with housing officials in the series of seminars referred to above.

The great majority of respondents expressed strong approval of the unifying effects on the socially rented sector of the measures proposed in relation to the Scottish secure tenancy and the new regulatory framework. There was widespread welcome for the proposal that Scottish Homes should become more accountable through conversion to an Executive Agency and act as a regulator of social landlords implementing the new regulatory standards. The Executive's legislative proposals for tackling homelessness also received far-reaching support.

The issues of detail relating to specific proposals or areas contained within the Bill are set out in Table 1. In addition to these, however, a number of general points concerning the Bill were raised. These were primarily concerned with either matters that were not included in the Bill or the political context in which respondents felt the legislation was being brought forward. Of these types, the key issues were:

Community ownership: A number of respondents commented that they believed that the detailed provisions of the Bill were designed solely to pressurise local authorities into transferring their stock into community ownership. Equally, a number of other respondents took the view that the provisions of the Bill would be an important complement to the potential opportunities of community ownership.

The private sector: Some respondents commented that the focus of the Bill, on the socially rented sector, should be widened to include more provisions on the private sector. Many of these respondents recognised that the points they raised were outwith the aim of this particular Bill, but wished to draw attention to areas where they felt future action is required. Some of the points raised in this regard will be positively addressed by the other legislative and funding initiatives the Scottish Executive is already taking forward in pursuit of its housing policy. As part of these new measures the Executive is setting up a new Housing Improvement Task Force to examine private sector issues in general.

Copies of The Housing (Scotland) Bill are available from the Stationery Office and the Bill can also be accessed on the Scottish Parliament Website. Accompanying documents, including a policy memorandum and explanatory notes to the Bill, are also available on this website and help to explain the changes that have been made to the Bill as a result of the consultation process.

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