Meeting of the Parliament 13 September 2017
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 sitting on the back benches.
Last week, the First Minster set out in our programme for government how we will continue to improve access to high-quality, energy-efficient and affordable homes. Our more homes Scotland approach supports the increase in the supply of homes across all tenures, and means that we work closely across the housing sector to promote construction of new homes, and to support jobs in the construction industry and inclusive growth in the wider economy. That work also includes a wide-ranging review of the planning system to improve the effectiveness of planning processes.
We are investing more than £3 billion in affordable housing to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes over this session of Parliament. That is a 76 per cent increase on our previous five-year investment, and it shows that this cabinet secretary for communities is far more interested in spending time and money on building houses than on a new national infrastructure agency.
It is also important to recognise that 35,000 homes in the 50,000 homes target will be for social rent. We never hear the Tories talk about targets for social rent, but I point out that our 35,000 target is a 75 per cent increase on our previous social rented housing target, and will ensure an average of between 12,000 and 14,000 full-time equivalent jobs in construction and related sectors.
Crucially, our more homes Scotland strategy provides certainty to Scotland’s councils and housing associations. To continue that momentum, we have this year, for the first time, committed to a year-on-year funding increase to be shared by councils over the next three years. That equates to an allocation of £1.75 billion across Scotland.
Last year saw a level of activity in the affordable house-building sector that has not been seen since the early 1980s, with more than 10,000 affordable homes approved—an increase of nearly 30 per cent on the year before. Instead of taking the rather simple Janet-and-John approach of breaking targets down on a year-to-year basis, our approach is to increase the number of starts, completions and approvals on a year-on-year basis by investing now and giving housing associations, councils and other partners the confidence and assurance that they need in order to invest. We have to increase the supply of housing year on year; yesterday, the latest affordable housing supply statistics showed that our pace is being maintained as affordable housing continues to be approved at a higher rate than it was the previous year.
I am conscious that time is short, Presiding Officer, but I think that in focusing on housing, we must also look at what is being done to help those who do not have a place to call home. In 2012, we introduced a world-leading homelessness target, which is something that we, as a nation, can be proud of. Moreover, we announced last week the creation of a short-life expert group to lead change in the area, and a new £10 million a year ending homelessness together fund to support the group’s recommendations. Kevin Stewart will say more next week about how we will redouble our efforts, in that respect.
It has been suggested that new towns are the solution to all our needs. As an MSP who represents a new town, I am a big fan of them—the new town of Livingston, in particular. However, it is important to recognise that it is not for the Government to impose new towns on communities, but to provide the framework to allow communities to put the right developments in the right places.
Of course, planning drove the new towns forward, and it has helped to enable the delivery of many more sustainable communities, both before and since. As part of our more homes Scotland strategy, a major programme of planning reform is on-going, and we will introduce a planning reform bill at the end of this year. Planning reform is absolutely crucial in ensuring better synergy between planning and development and infrastructure investment. One example of that is the £9 million support that we announced for the Highland Council as part of the Inverness and Highland city region deal. The Highland infrastructure loan fund was established as part of the deal to support and accelerate delivery of affordable housing across the region. That shows that we are committed to homes across all of Scotland, including rural Scotland.
I am sure that, in his closing remarks, Kevin Stewart will say more about energy efficiency and our plans around the warm homes bill.
To conclude, I say that we are, as a Government, always open to debate—there is, indeed, no monopoly of wisdom—but we will not take any lectures on housing this afternoon, or at any other time, from the Conservatives. The Tories will be hoping that we all have short memories, but I assure them that we do not. We have not forgotten their toxic legacy of removing housing benefit from our young people.