Housing (Scotland) Act 2001

Miscellaneous

106 Equal opportunities

(1) The Scottish Ministers and local authorities must exercise the functions conferred on them by this Act in a manner which encourages equal opportunities and in particular the observance of the equal opportunity requirements.

(2) In providing housing accommodation and related services, registered social landlords must act in a manner which encourages equal opportunities and in particular the observance of the equal opportunity requirements.

(3) In this section, “equal opportunities” and “equal opportunity requirements” have the same meanings as in Section L2 (equal opportunities) of Part II of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46).

107 Local authority maintenance of houses etc. of registered social landlord

(1) Section 1 (supply of goods and services by local authorities) of the Local Authorities (Goods and Services) Act 1970 (c. 39) applies in relation to a registered social landlord as if it were a public body within the meaning of subsection (4) of that section.

(2) In such application, the definition of “works of maintenance” in that subsection has effect as if the word “minor” wherever it occurs were omitted.

108 Meaning of “family” and “spouse”: cohabitation

(1) For the purposes of this Act, a person (“A”) is a member of another’s (“B's”) family if—

(a) A is the spouse of B, or A and B live together as husband and wife or in a relationship which has the characteristics of the relationship between husband and wife except that the persons are of the same sex, or

(b) A is B’s parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1)(b)—

(a) a relationship by marriage is to be treated as a relationship by blood,

(b) a relationship of the half-blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood,

(c) the stepchild of a person is to be treated as that person’s child, and

(d) a person brought up or treated by another person as if the person were the child of the other person is to be treated as that person’s child.

(3) In section 83 (members of a person’s family) of the 1987 Act—

(a) in subsection (1)(a), after “wife” insert “or in a relationship which has the characteristics of the relationship between husband and wife except that the persons are of the same sex”,

(b) in subsection (2), after paragraph (c) insert—

“(ca) a person brought up or treated by another person as if the person were the child of the other person shall be treated as that person’s child;”,

(c) after subsection (2) insert—

“(3) Except in subsection (1)(a), references in this Act to a person’s spouse include references to another person living together with that person as husband and wife or in a relationship which has the characteristics of the relationship between husband and wife except that the persons are of the same sex.”