Hansard

PE1956, which was lodged by Louise McGee, is on increasing the provision of wheelchair accessible homes. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to review the existing wheelchair accessible housing target guidance and to explore options for increasing the availability of wheelchair accessible housing in Scotland. The petition was last considered at our meeting on 23 November 2022, when we agreed to write to the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, from which we have now received responses. However, as members will have noted, COSLA asked the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers—it has a marvellous acronym, but we will just stick with that—to provide a response on its behalf. In its response, the Scottish Government confirmed that it is currently undertaking a review of the adaptations system, which it expects to have completed by the spring of 2024. The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations noted that the most recent Government statistic for the total number of wheelchair accessible homes developed for social rent was 0.3 per cent for the year 2020-21. The SFHA highlighted that progress on a review of adaptations, new building standards and plans for a new accessible homes standard has been slow. The Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers agreed with the petitioner that the Scottish Government should review the existing wheelchair accessible housing target guidance. It provided information on the wheelchair accessible homes targets that have been set by various local authorities, and went on to say that there is currently no definition of a wheelchair accessible home, which it said is a measure that is needed in Scotland. In the light of the representations that we sought and have now received, do members have any comments or suggestions?