Hansard

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.