Meeting of the Parliament 25 January 2023
For the purposes of this debate and the following debate, I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests, which shows that I am the owner of a private rented property in the North Lanarkshire Council area.
We welcome today’s debate on Scotland’s homelessness emergency and we will support the motion at decision time.
Last February, when the cabinet secretary led a debate on the prevention of homelessness duties, she spoke about our world-leading legislation, the £100 million ending homelessness together fund and the refreshed action plan. However, since then, the situation has become worse. The number of housing applications is up, as is the number of children in temporary accommodation. Families simply want the right to safe, secure and affordable housing that provides the stability that they need for a normal work, school and family life. Instead, they are going without that most basic need.
During last year’s debate, countless colleagues raised the issue of council budget cuts, which affect councils’ ability to tackle the crisis. Those decisions have consequences.
Here in Edinburgh, where homelessness is at its worst in terms of gross numbers, the council is running out of road to deal with the crisis. Last November, it reported a projected homelessness gap of £19 million, which will double year on year. Today, Ewan Aitken, the chief executive of Cyrenians, reports that the number of people rough sleeping in Edinburgh is back to 30 to 40 a night.