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There are two ways to look at that. First, there would have to be data to back that up.

Secondly, it is the right of the minister to look at that and say whether they would impose rent controls in an area. If a local authority says that it wants to look at rent controls, the minister at the time can say that they do not agree with that, so the rent controls would not just come in. There is flexibility for the Government and the minister to look at that and say that they do not think that there is a case for rent controls at that particular time. The key thing is that it has to be backed up by data. There would be discussions—it is not something that would happen overnight. It would have to go out for broader consultation. The key thing is that the minister would have the right to say whether rent controls could be brought in, depending on the local circumstances at that particular time. A local authority might want to do it, but the minister might not agree and would have to give reasons for that. The ability to look at that goes both ways.

Again, I think that Yvette Sheppard talked about such circumstances. First, as she touched on, there would be an option for us to go back if we think that the data is not sufficient. If that is still the case when the data comes back, we would have to take it as an individual circumstance, but I think that the minister has the ability to do what you said. There are a number of points before we even get to that regarding whether the data that the authority provides backs up sufficiently what it proposes. That is where issues of broader local consideration come in.

I do not know whether Yvette wants to add anything other than what was added before. Again, there is the procedure of looking at the data that comes forward to work out whether we think that the data that the authority has collected is sufficient and sufficiently supports what it proposes.

It might be the other way round—the authority might come forward and say that it does or does not recommend a rent control area. There are different circumstances. I do not know whether Yvette wants to add anything to what she added before.

I will try to keep them short.

I am happy to discuss that in more detail. In principle, it is something that we would consider. The Scottish Association of Landlords has discussed unscrupulous landlords. You mentioned that we are talking about only a small number of people, but how do we ensure that there is not an impact? You are right: the EPC is an important part of how information is provided, and the association recognises that. The association has to make sure that it is limiting the number of landlords such as that who are in place. There could be a carrot-and-stick approach, and the stick would be to include measures on that in the legislation.

I would be happy to talk about that in more detail, convener. I do not know whether Charlotte McHaffie or Catriona MacKean want to comment.

That has been recognised as a key issue. I visited a rent deposit scheme to see the work that it does, and I was impressed by the way that it tries to return deposits to the best of its ability. Unclaimed deposits represent a substantial amount of money, and that is one of the key issues that it discussed with me. It is important to have the necessary contact information. It made the point that, sometimes, it has only one telephone number or email address and that, if somebody changes that, it suddenly cannot get hold of them. People get to the end of their tenancy, move on and forget about their deposit.

I was going to mention that. Of course, we would be happy to take part in that.

I am sorry, but I will make another point.

One of the key things—which Mr Griffin knows about—is that I will be having discussions: I think that we have a note out to Mr Griffin, Mr Briggs and others about discussing the bill. When we talked about the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill, one of the key things for me was about making sure that it was as collaborative as possible. I really want to see that approach again. I will be talking to Mr Griffin, Mr Briggs and other party spokespeople about that. It will be about saying, “Okay, where do you see this going?”. Ultimately, the bill has to get through Parliament as well. It is about discussing it and trying to be as collaborative as possible.

I am happy to meet Mr Griffin and Mr Briggs. I think that there are already letters out and meetings planned within the next few weeks to discuss that. Again, that is open to any member who wants to discuss the bill with me; I am happy to discuss it with them.

It is a case of trying to strike a balance. I think that what is proposed puts an additional onus on landlords, but we also need to raise awareness of what is there for tenants. I mentioned the fact that, in a rent control area, landlords have to provide specified information to a tenant at the start of the tenancy. There is an onus on landlords to do that. We will continue to discuss that with tenants, but it is a case of striking a balance.

Of course. Obviously, those are discussions that I have in my day-to-day role and not just on the bill, but I appreciate your point.

My understanding is that the minister at that time would still be able to bring in rent controls if they wished to do so. However, such circumstances would be highly unlikely. As you said, you are talking about the situation just now, and we do not know how circumstances might change in time.