Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2023
I am delighted to hear that the minister wants to be more ambitious, but why are we not transparent and clear about what those ambitions are, rather than misleading people and short changing rural communities?
The result for rural Scotland of the deficit that we are talking about is that it is embedding inequality and widening the gap between the SNP’s aspirations for delivering for the central belt and what it is failing to deliver for small towns, villages, rural communities and islands.
How many more ways is rural Scotland being let down by this coalition of SNP and Green members, on access to healthcare, road upgrades, broadband connectivity and ferries to name but a few? Housing is key to tackling the problems that rural Scotland is facing, but as I said, it is only one piece of the puzzle. If we cannot even tackle that with a fair allocation of resources—although we have hope for that because of what the minister has just articulated—what hope is there for tackling the rest of the challenges that people face in rural communities? We cannot keep treating rural Scotland as an afterthought in policy making or its people as second class citizens. That is why we will be bringing forward the Scottish Conservatives’ plan to bring rural Scotland to the heart of our decision making.
We will be pragmatic in our approach to housing by encouraging investment rather than stymieing its flow. We will cut red tape and bureaucracy to speed up housing delivery, and we will ensure that disincentivising legislation is assigned to the circular file. We will announce plans to overhaul the planning process to make it easier to build new homes in the right places. We will do a lot more, but first and foremost, we will ensure that at least 17 per cent of the housing budget and the building of affordable homes will be delivered in rural areas.
I move amendment S6M-11027.1, to leave out from “of which” to “marks”; and insert:
“but regrets that only 10% of these homes will be delivered in rural and island areas to help attract people to, and retain people in, these communities, which comprise 17% of Scotland’s population; recognises that depopulation has been a longstanding problem for Scotland’s rural and island communities, due to a consistent lack of government action; notes that the current rural development programmes, despite being extended, have not been fully utilised; recognises that the plan must deliver on its objectives and promote rural and island areas as good places to live and work; acknowledges that the plan is”.
14:46Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.