Meeting of the Parliament 25 January 2023
Homelessness is an issue that unfortunately affects people and families across every city, town and village in Scotland. As we heard from the cabinet secretary, it is an objective of the Scottish Government for everyone in this country to have a safe, warm and affordable home that meets their requirements.
The numbers that we have heard are indeed stark. Crisis, which is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness, received 35,230 applications for assistance from homeless households in 2021-22. A few months ago, Crisis conducted a survey that firmly highlighted the role that the cost of living crisis has played in exacerbating the homelessness issue that we are speaking about today. The survey found that almost half of respondents had mortgage or rent increases in the previous 12 months and that just under 10 per cent of low-income renters in Scotland are behind on their rent. Perhaps most shockingly, a third of respondents in Scotland acknowledged that they will likely need to skip meals to keep up with housing costs.
The cost of living crisis is affecting everyone, but its disproportionate impact on those on the lowest incomes must be highlighted. That includes tenants who are already struggling with housing costs, people who are out of work and people who are unable to work for reasons outwith their control. People in such households already find it very hard to manage rising bills, so any further financial pressure will no doubt push more people towards homelessness.
The simple fact is that all of us in this country are paying the price for grotesque economic mismanagement at the hands of the Tory Government in Westminster. Tory members will say that I am just looking for someone else to blame, but I am talking about the cold, hard facts. I have to give credit to the Conservative Party for bringing this debate to the chamber, because it cannot be accused of playing on safe ground.
Inflation has soared to its highest level in nearly 40 years, hitting 10.5 per cent in December. Brexit added almost £6 billion to UK food bills in the two years to the end of 2021, disproportionately affecting the poorest households. I see that today Mark Carney was again criticising the effect of the Brexit decision on the UK economy. In response to the autumn statement last November, the Institute for Fiscal Studies noted that the UK was now
“reaping the costs of a long-term failure to grow the economy”,
which was worsened by a
“series of economic own goals”
by the UK Government.
Although I could continue to list ways in which we are all suffering due to Tory economic mismanagement, I will instead comment on ways that the Scottish Government has yet again had to mitigate the economic woes inflicted on us.
People renting their homes will be among the hardest hit. Tenants, especially in the private rented sector, spend a greater proportion of their income on housing than people who own their homes. As we have heard, the Scottish Government took decisive action, legislated accordingly and introduced a rent freeze and a moratorium on evictions. The aim of that bill was to protect tenants during the cost crisis. I should add that the Tories were the only party in the Parliament to vote against the introduction of those measures. In addition, the Scottish Government extended the eligibility criteria for the tenant grant fund, which allows local authorities to use any remaining funds to help households who are in arrears as a result of the cost of living crisis.
Other measures include the £84 million in the budget for discretionary housing payments, to directly mitigate the impact of UK Government policies such as the bedroom tax. The Scottish Government’s investment of £2.6 million to mitigate the benefit cap is helping more than 4,000 families meet their housing costs.
All that is in addition to policies such as the Scottish child payment, which will make a great difference to many of my constituents in Coatbridge and Chryston.
It is ironic that I am coming up to my four minutes, as I still have loads to say about mitigating—