Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2026 [Draft]
Mr Harvie will be aware that there are already specific taxes in this area on the house-building industry. The minister was right when he set out that we have a challenge in funding the large gap between the requirements in Scotland and what we need to raise, and we have to find vehicles to do that. I say to Mr Harvie that the nub of the debate today has been about whether, in the current circumstances of a housing emergency—which he has some culpability for—there is a mismatch between the need to raise that money and the vulnerability of a housing sector that is in a terrible, absolutely dreadful state.
We also have to ensure that we do not lose sight of the fact that there are two forms of social good in this work. Yes, there is the safety of people who are in high-rise buildings that require remediation, but there is also social good in people having decent houses to live in. It should not be the case that more than 10,000 children—a record number in Scotland—are living in temporary accommodation, so we must have a housing market that works. That is absolutely critical.
On Ivan McKee’s point, it is slightly odd that the minister seems incapable of understanding that we should have Scottish answers for Scottish problems. Through stages 2 and 3, he has been keen to talk about what the Labour Government elsewhere is doing in this policy area. My job here—and the job of the Scottish Parliament—is to come up with answers for Scotland that are specific to the Scottish challenges that we face. That is the position that Scottish Labour takes with regard to the legislation that we are looking at today. It is absolutely critical that we deliver the right resources to ensure that we get this work done, and we have to do that timeously.