Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 04 December 2013
04 Dec 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Housing
Because I have been out there talking to the stakeholders and trying to get things moving. If leadership is judged by coming to the Parliament and speaking to the Opposition parties, I am sorry; for me, it is about going out there, talking to the stakeholders, listening to their concerns and taking action—and that is what we are doing.
The £16,000 benchmark was recommended by the working group. That was its figure and we took it on board. That change enables councils and housing associations to keep social rents affordable and reduces the amount that they have to contribute from their own resources. That is particularly important, given the uncertainties of the United Kingdom Government’s welfare reforms. We backed up that change with investment in the draft budget.
The £16,000 benchmark was recommended by the working group. That was its figure and we took it on board. That change enables councils and housing associations to keep social rents affordable and reduces the amount that they have to contribute from their own resources. That is particularly important, given the uncertainties of the United Kingdom Government’s welfare reforms. We backed up that change with investment in the draft budget.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-08470, in the name of Mary Fee, on housing. The member has 14 minutes, although the debate is very tight ...
Mary Fee (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Today’s motion seeks to address what has been missing from the chamber over the past 15 months: a debate on housing addressing present and future challenges....
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Does the member accept that one of the underlying principles in the white paper is that we would have more money if we were not subsidising nuclear weapons a...
Mary Fee
Lab
If the member wants to talk about housing, I point out that Scottish Labour would not have wasted £30 million on the Glasgow airport rail link project, which...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Does the member accept that local authorities are building more houses than they did in the final four years of the Labour-Liberal Democrat Administration?
Mary Fee
Lab
We could all bandy statistics about, but the important thing that we must remember—Interruption.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Order, please.
Mary Fee
Lab
If we had not lodged the motion for debate, we would not be talking about housing.
Chic Brodie (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Mary Fee
Lab
No—I have just taken one.Where was the minister when that information was reported in July? Why has there been no Government debate to discuss the crisis in ...
Mike MacKenzie (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Mary Fee
Lab
No, I am almost finished.We have a Scottish Government that is strategising for separation, not one that is interested in the day-to-day running of Scotland....
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
We are tight for time. If members wish to be considered to be called to speak, they must press their request-to-speak buttons.14:54
The Minister for Housing and Welfare (Margaret Burgess)
SNP
Unlike other parties in the Parliament, the Scottish Government has a clear vision that every one of us in Scotland should live in a high-quality, sustainabl...
Hugh Henry (Renfrewshire South) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister take an intervention?
Margaret Burgess
SNP
I will not take an intervention at the moment. I have been accused of not coming to the chamber to talk about housing, so I will talk about what we have done...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Order, please.
Margaret Burgess
SNP
I welcome the opportunity to affirm and demonstrate that the Scottish Government leads, listens and takes action to ensure that we can deliver that vision. I...
Mary Fee
Lab
Is the minister saying that, when Audit Scotland, Shelter and other organisations say that housing in Scotland is in crisis, they are wrong?
Margaret Burgess
SNP
What I am saying is that we are building more houses than any other Administration in the Scottish Parliament has built, despite the economic downturn. Inter...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Order.
Margaret Burgess
SNP
We cannot get away from the facts. I will give members the facts. Some 4,117 new council houses have been built by the SNP Administration—the previous Labour...
Hugh Henry
Lab
Given everything that the minister has said that she has done and that she claims that the SNP Government has a vision, why has she failed to come to the Par...
Margaret Burgess
SNP
Because I have been out there talking to the stakeholders and trying to get things moving. If leadership is judged by coming to the Parliament and speaking t...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh Northern and Leith) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister give way?
Margaret Burgess
SNP
No. I am not giving way any more. I have been constantly told that I have not come to the chamber to speak about housing, so I will do that now.Over the four...
Jim Hume (South Scotland) (LD)
LD
Will the minister take an intervention?
Margaret Burgess
SNP
I am taking no more interventions. I am sorry.I look forward to that scheme making a positive difference in the coming months and years and increasing the de...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Order, please.
Margaret Burgess
SNP
Opposition members were keen to comment on the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which pointed out that, under the current system, there is a disincentive for Sc...