Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 13 September 2017
13 Sep 2017 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Housing
Let me make a little progress, and then I will give way.
In her recent report, “The Life Chances of Young People in Scotland”, Naomi Eisenstadt observed that setting up home is one of the major challenges of successful young adulthood. She said:
“For nearly all of us, a sense of home, of community, and of a network of family, friends and colleagues, all help define our lives.”
That is what good housing policy is really all about. However, young people are having to defer their futures because they cannot afford to get on the housing ladder. The charity Shelter has said that almost a quarter of 18 to 40-year-olds across the United Kingdom are delaying starting a family because of a lack of affordable housing—some by up to six years.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-07613, in the name of Adam Tomkins, on housing. 14:43
Adam Tomkins (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
Scotland faces a housing crisis on a scale that has not been seen since the second world war. We urgently need to talk about it, and to act. Housing, alongs...
Elaine Smith (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Will the member take an intervention?
Adam Tomkins
Con
Let me make a little progress, and then I will give way. In her recent report, “The Life Chances of Young People in Scotland”, Naomi Eisenstadt observed tha...
Elaine Smith
Lab
Will the member take an intervention?
Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Adam Tomkins
Con
I give way to Elaine Smith.
Elaine Smith
Lab
I hope that the member is not implying that the only house worth having is a bought house, as there is a good place for public rented housing in our housing ...
Adam Tomkins
Con
Of course, which is why we think that half of the houses that should be built in Scotland should be affordable housing. However, I will not make any apology ...
Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (LD)
LD
The member has not, so far, mentioned social housing. My questions are genuine. Is that deliberate and by design, or is it by accident? Does the member want ...
Adam Tomkins
Con
Perhaps Mr Rumbles has not been paying attention. I have already been asked that question. My answer was yes, of course we do. Our view is clear: Scotland n...
Ash Denham (Edinburgh Eastern) (SNP)
SNP
Since the Tories took office in Westminster, levels of house building in England are at their lowest since Baldwin was Prime Minister in 1923. Why do Tory ac...
Adam Tomkins
Con
Why does the Scottish National Party want to talk about English history while the Scottish Conservatives want to talk about housing policy for Scotland now a...
Maree Todd (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Adam Tomkins
Con
I have given way three times already. Those are ambitious, locally led proposals. They are supported by central Government and will create new communities t...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Thank you very much. I encourage both the giving and receiving of interventions, and I praise Mr Tomkins for taking three interventions and keeping within hi...
The Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities (Angela Constance)
SNP
Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It is somehow ironic that on the day on which the Tories have chosen housing as the topic for their debate, the Nati...
Adam Tomkins
Con
Will the cabinet secretary give way?
Angela Constance
SNP
I will give way in a moment. We have built social housing at a faster rate than any other part of the UK has. We have supported more than 23,000 households ...
Adam Tomkins
Con
In her report this year, “The Life Chances of Young People in Scotland”, Naomi Eisenstadt—who supports the Government’s closure of the right-to-buy policy—sa...
Angela Constance
SNP
I say to Mr Tomkins that the Government’s response has been to accelerate housing supply increasingly across all tenures. Our help-to-buy schemes have also s...
Ruth Davidson (Edinburgh Central) (Con)
Con
Will the cabinet secretary give way?
Angela Constance
SNP
I might give way later. I will say, though, that if Ruth Davidson was so committed to the debate, she would have been in Mr Tomkins’s shoes instead of sittin...
Adam Tomkins
Con
More history.
Angela Constance
SNP
I say to Mr Tomkins that it is not history. His Government very recently removed housing benefit from young people under the age of 21.
The Presiding Officer
NPA
You should conclude, cabinet secretary.
Angela Constance
SNP
God only knows how that will improve their life chances. It was Mr Tomkins’s Government and party that defended the bedroom tax.
The Presiding Officer
NPA
You should conclude, cabinet secretary, please.
Angela Constance
SNP
That has an impact on 70,000 Scottish homes. Mr Tomkins’s Government introduced universal credit with delays in payments resulting in rent arrears, and his p...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Cabinet secretary, please.