Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2024
We are quite often suspected by the public—and often by each other—of making capital from issues that affect people’s lives. Last year, there were 40,000 homeless cases across Scotland. Those of us in the Parliament have been accused of standing in the chamber, wringing our hands and doing not much about it. We are accused of repeating the same numbers at each other: 10,000 children are homeless, there are 110 deaths in our streets, one in four face a form of housing need, and there is 20 per cent less money available for affordable homes. Those accusations have been made because we are not elected to make sympathetic speeches. Our job is to pass the laws of this country in order to stop those everyday tragedies.
We have the power, motivation and means to give families the safe, warm and secure homes that they need, to prevent the harm that is being caused to them while they are homeless. When we talk about becoming MSPs to change the world, we do not mean that we will make grand, sweeping statements or gestures; we mean that we will make sure that no one is using shower or toilet water to cook their meals on our watch.
When the Government talked about introducing a housing bill, we were engaged, positive and keen to get going, because things are horrendous and we believe that we can help. However, I am not sure what has happened between the ambition and the development of the legislation, because the bill was—and is—a mess. Yes, it talks about rent controls, and we support regulation, but the gap between the legislation and the ability to deliver is a chasm. Yes, the bill talks about homelessness prevention, but cash-strapped public services have no confidence in delivering on such lofty ideals.
The widest chasm is the total lack of any mention of the number 1 issue that we face, which is that we do not have enough homes. The bill provides a golden opportunity to put solving the housing emergency at the front and centre of the Parliament’s and the Government’s mission. Instead of talking endlessly, we could do what needs to be done and get on with building houses and helping people. It seems to be a radical suggestion, but it should not be. We should be driving up the supply of homes, getting the ones that are already there back into use and getting families into them. We can—absolutely—fix this. We have the power to do it. We have a housing bill waiting and ready—