27.01.2014
Burgh Hall will be home to the Scottish Parliament’s Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee’s meetings on the Housing (Scotland) Bill next month. This is part of the Parliament Day activities taking place across Dumbarton on Monday 24 February.
The Committee will hold a series of informal meetings during the day with local tenants groups and housing associations before its formal public meeting at the Burgh Hall begins at 6pm.
In the formal meeting open to the public, the Committee will hear the views of witnesses representing tenants’ interests on the measures contained in the Bill. Following this, there will be a short open panel session, allowing local residents the opportunity to ask their questions on the housing issues the Bill seeks to address.
Convener of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee Maureen Watt MSP said:
“Hearing from local people about the issues that matter to them is important for every parliamentary committee. Our Committee has organised this meeting for an early evening, a first for a Parliament Committee, to try to ensure that as many people as possible can come along.
“We are currently looking at the Housing Bill. It affects people who rent homes, let homes, letting agents, owners of mobile homes parks and the mobile home owners. We are therefore interested to hear from the people of Dumbarton and the surrounding area on how this Bill will affect them and will be arranging informal discussions at the Burgh Hall to allow this to happen.
“For my Committee, which looks at infrastructure services that people and businesses rely upon every day such as broadband, roads, a place to live, it is particularly important to us that we hear the views of local people.”
Members of the public are invited to contact the Committee if they have any questions relating to the Bill that they wish the Committee to look into. Further details can be found here:
Housing (Scotland) Bill
Other activities taking place in Dumbarton as part of Parliament Day include a series of meetings with local organisations by the Presiding Officer the Rt Hon Tricia Marwick MSP and visits to local schools by MSPs and Parliament staff.
The Parliament Day aims to take the Parliament out of Edinburgh. It allows people to see the Parliament at work, be it ‘official’ Parliamentary business, or on a less formal level.
It provides an opportunity for people to meet everyone involved with the Parliament: Members, the Presiding Officer and the staff of the Parliament.
The Parliament Day is at the heart of the Parliament’s engagement strategy for its fourth session. There are up to three Parliament Day events held a year and it is hoped that a Parliament Day will have been held in all eight Scottish Parliament regions by the end of the current session.
The Parliament Day seeks to take the Parliament into communities around Scotland, inspiring local people to take an interest in and engage directly in the work of their Parliament.
Background
Tickets for the Committee meeting are free and can be booked in advance by contacting the Scottish Parliament’s Visitor Services on:
- sp.bookings@scottish.parliament.uk
- 0131 348 5200
- 0800 092 7600 (Textphone users: 0800 092 7100)