John Mason, SNP MP for Glasgow East, has welcomed reports that Scottish Government ministers are in discussions with senior Glasgow councillors with a view to reducing the role of GHA (the Glasgow Housing Association Ltd.).

The East End MP was a leading figure in the campaign against the transfer of the city council’s houses to GHA in 2003, when he served as Leader of the Opposition at the City Chambers.

Speaking earlier today (Friday), Mr Mason said:

“These discussions appear to be at an early stage and there are no firm proposals in the public domain at the moment. Having said that, I am delighted that the SNP Scottish Government and the City Council seem to be looking at this vital issue.

“GHA was set up specifically to bring about second stage transfer, whereby it would dissolve itself into a large number of local community housing organisations. Progress up until now has been painfully slow, and if the Scottish Government and the Council can work to force the pace of change, that is great news.

“There are currently 21,000 homes across the city due to be transferred from the GHA to local control, and a significant proportion of these are here in the East End.”