Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022

9 Reports by the Scottish Ministers on status of Part 1 provisions

(1) The Scottish Ministers must, in respect of each reporting period—

(a) undertake a review of the operation of the provisions of Part 1 with a view to considering whether those provisions remain necessary and proportionate in connection with the cost of living, and

(b) prepare a report on that review.

(2) A report prepared under subsection (1) must—

(a) set out how any powers conferred by the provisions of Part 1 have been exercised,

(b) set out the steps the Scottish Ministers have taken to meet the requirements in section 3, and

(c) include—

(i) the status of the provisions of Part 1 (whether or not any power under a provision has been exercised), and

(ii) a statement that the Scottish Ministers are satisfied that the status of those provisions is appropriate.

(3) Before Scottish Ministers prepare a report of a review under subsection (1), the Scottish Ministers—

(a) must consult—

(i) such persons as appear to them to represent the interests of tenants and landlords that may be affected by the provisions of Part 1,

(ii) local authorities,

(b) may consult any other person they consider appropriate.

(4) A review under this section must include a summary of how the views of those consulted under subsection (3) were taken into account by the Scottish Ministers in finalising their report.

(5) The references in subsection (2) to the “status” of a provision are to—

(a) whether the provision is in force at the end of the reporting period, and

(b) whether any power under the following provisions has been exercised by the Scottish Ministers in relation to it during that period (and, if so, how)—

(i) section 6 (power to suspend or revive provisions),

(ii) section 8 (power to bring forward expiry).

(6) Each of the following is a “reporting period”—

(a) the period beginning with the day after Royal Assent and ending on 31 December 2022,

(b) each successive period of 3 months that ends during the period before Part 1 of this Act expires by virtue of section 7(1) or 8(1) up to and including 31 December 2023.

(7) In the report in respect of the period ending 31 December 2022, the Scottish Ministers must, in considering the application of the permitted rate (within the meaning of section 24A(1) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001) of 0%, explain whether they propose to—

(a) retain the permitted rate at 0%,

(b) increase the permitted rate,

(c) make regulations under section 8(1) to provide for the expiry of paragraph 3 of schedule 1, or

(d) make regulations under section 6(1) to suspend the operation of that paragraph.

(8) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a reporting period if, during the reporting period, the Scottish Ministers are required under section 7(6) to lay before the Scottish Parliament a statement of their reasons why regulations should be made under that section.

(9) Where the Scottish Ministers are required to prepare a report under subsection (1) in respect of a reporting period, they must lay the report before the Scottish Parliament no later than 14 days after the end of the reporting period.