Yet again a London party politician wants Scotland's money kept in London

Bob Doris MSP – a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities has expressed disappointment at Michael Moore’s rejection of increasing the maximum fines for rogue landlords from £5000 to £20,000 and also allowing the money to be kept by local authorities so they could further finance such prosecutions.

Commenting on the rejection by the Scottish Secretary of his request Mr Doris said: "I am disappointed that the Secretary of State for Scotland appears to have missed the point about introducing a system for local authorities to retain court fines raised by the successful prosecution of unregistered landlords.

"It is a time consuming and expensive business to prosecute unregistered landlords. That is one of the reasons why none have ever been successfully prosecuted by Local Authorities. The retention of court fines could be a significant driver in enforcing current rogue landlord legislation. However, Michael Moore appears to have dismissed the matter out of hand.

“It’s like the same old Scotland Office which acts as an agent for the London Treasury rather than for the people of Scotland. They appear keener on retaining a power that hasn’t even accrued any money for the Treasury rather than relinquishing control and giving Scottish councils the means to enforce this power.

"I will now write to Cosla to seek further support for my proposals but I would have expected a more thoughtful reply from the new Secretary of State for Scotland.

"This is yet another example of why the Scottish Parliament needs to be empowered to make these decisions, rather than having to persuade a distant and out of touch UK Government."

Notes:

1. The letter from Mr Moore is here.

2. Mr Doris’s original letter to Michael Moore is as follows:

Michael Moore MP
Secretary of State for Scotland
Dover House
Whitehall
LONDON SW1A 2AU

23 June 2010

Rogue Landlords

This afternoon I took part in the Stage 1 debate for the Scottish Government's Housing (Scotland) Bill and I informed the chamber that I would seeking your support in relation to one aspect of the Bill.

The Bill seeks to increase maximum fines for rogue landlords from £5000 to £20,000, a move which I welcome and which I expect will attract widespread support. However, given the fact that there has not been one successful prosecution to date, the increased sum will only be relevant if local authorities actually pursue prosecutions

Under current rules, proceeds of all criminal fines go straight to the Treasury and I suspect that the lack of prosecutions in this instance likely arises from the financial resource outlay for local authorities in supporting successful convictions. It would therefore seem obvious that a scheme whereby local authorities were supported financially with the monies raised through fines would incentivise the use of existing legislative powers, as well as the larger fines being proposed by the bill I refer to. These resources could be invested in either the administration and policing of rogue landlords or for reinvestment in local housing.

It is vital that we tackle rogue landlords and in so doing instill confidence in the private rented sector. Those who abuse the system should be made to pay for their actions but clearly something is not working when no criminal convictions for unregistered landlords have been secured to date. I would therefore ask that you consider options for retaining fines for criminal prosecutions within this area in Scotland.

Legislation created at Holyrood to tackle rogue landlords could be significantly more effective if the monies raised were returned to effect some direct benefit, and there would be no financial loss to the Exchequer as no monies are currently raised.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Bob Doris MSP