Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

Meeting date: Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Official Report 960KB pdf

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Topical Question Time

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RAAC in Local Authority Housing (Torry)

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the announcement by Aberdeen City Council that residents of approximately 500 homes in Torry face relocation as a result of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. (S6T-01837)

I recognise that this will be a very worrying time for those who are directly affected by the latest situation in Aberdeen.

The rehoming programme, which was confirmed last week, is part of the council’s long-term plan to remediate the RAAC that has been discovered in its housing. It is vital that the council puts in place that proactive plan to provide one-to-one assessments and make sure that tenants find suitable onward accommodation.

The Minister for Housing has met council leaders and the housing convener to discuss the action that has been taken and to gain assurance that the needs of tenants will be foremost over the coming months. We continue to engage with all local authorities through the RAAC cross-sector working group.

The Balnagask area of Torry is one of the most deprived areas on the Scottish index of multiple deprivation. Around 150 home owners in the area have purchased former council properties. Many have mortgages that are still outstanding and will see a drop into not just negative equity but, potentially, zero equity. Insurance companies are already withdrawing cover, leaving residents in a very difficult financial predicament. Will the cabinet secretary outline what resources, advice and support home owners can access to inform how they can proceed?

The affected buildings in Aberdeen have not been assessed as posing a critical risk, which would require immediate evacuation. There are therefore no plans at this stage to compel owners to leave their home. The long-term options available to those households will be considered as part of the council’s on-going investigations and options appraisal for the site.

We understand that individual decisions on each property are for the lender or insurer, but we will continue to engage with the Association of British Insurers and UK Finance to urge them to take a very responsible stance on the matter. I hope that they will appreciate that, as I said, it is a worrying time for everyone involved.

I thank the cabinet secretary for outlining those options.

I am pleased that Aberdeen City Council has set aside an initial £3 million to underpin its response to the issues that arise from RAAC. However, for many of my constituents, the need to relocate their homes could incur unforeseen costs such as new school uniforms for children or additional travel costs to work or services such as general practitioners. Everyone, but especially families and children in that close-knit community, faces huge upheaval.

Given that many of those affected are on low incomes, will the cabinet secretary outline what additional support might be available to constituents on already-tight family budgets who face additional pressures?

That is a matter for Aberdeen City Council, but I understand that the process of one-to-one assessments that it has planned will ensure that the circumstances of each individual family are considered and that wraparound support is provided, including consideration of the health and, importantly, the schooling needs of affected families. That will be underpinned by disturbance payments to cover rehoming costs, such as removals, new carpets and other expenses such as those that the member mentioned.

I appreciate the member’s on-going concern as the constituency MSP, and I will endeavour to keep her updated from a Scottish Government perspective. I am aware that she is in communication with the council as well, given that the affected buildings are council buildings.

After years of underfunding, the council will need financial help from the Scottish Government, on what is a wholly devolved matter, to assist the council tenants, the owners and the private renters that we have heard about. What financial support will be made available from the Scottish Government to ensure that the council is able to provide the support that is needed?

As Liam Kerr will be aware, the Parliament has very recently passed the budget. I am happy to be corrected if I am incorrect but, as far as I am aware, on this and on all other issues, the Scottish Conservatives did not come forward with costed proposals for how we might change either our revenue or our capital. It is therefore very important to put the context—[Interruption.]

Let us hear the cabinet secretary.

Clearly, those members are not interested in hearing how we have taken decisions over our budget.

I point out to Liam Kerr that the United Kingdom Government did not inflation proof its capital budget, and we forecast that that will result in a real-terms cut of nearly 10 per cent in our capital funding. That means that difficult decisions will have to be made by the Scottish Government and councils.

To be clear, the chancellor said in the past that funding would be made available not just for RAAC in housing but for RAAC overall. We have had not a single penny for that to date, and that is a very sad state of affairs.

In common with other members, I have been contacted by a number of constituents in recent days, and they are consumed with worry about what the situation means for the homes that they have worked so hard to buy and about the safety of their families. What can the minister tell us about on-going support for Aberdeen City Council regarding the dialogue on the matter in the longer term?

The situation is akin to the cladding issue, which has left many families across the United Kingdom without any value in their homes. Is the minister determined to take a strategic approach to how we might address these issues, as they might arise in other parts of the country?

Michael Marra is quite right to point out that the issue that we are discussing might not be the only such situation that arises. It affects tenants, including private rented sector tenants, and owner-occupiers. That is why we have put in place the discussions that we need to have, at both ministerial and official levels, with councils and across the public sector, so that we can determine the scale of the challenge and liaise on good practice and any changes in guidance, ensuring that we work together as closely as possible. I take very seriously the member’s point about the need to ensure that we do not just focus on tenants when working on this issue.

From the conversations that the Government has been having with the city council, it is clear that the council is considering the situation of everybody who lives in the area, not just its own tenants. That is a very important piece of work. The situation is very concerning for everybody involved, including the owner-occupiers, and we will continue discussions with the council on what is happening in its area and, indeed, with other local authorities as situations arise.

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Budget (Children’s Homelessness)

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported claims by the director of Shelter Scotland that it is “gaslighting” the country on housing when its budget “condemns 10,000 children to lives trapped in the homelessness system”. (S6T-01835)

The Scottish Government is doing everything in its powers to tackle homelessness, and the Minister for Housing regularly engages with local authorities on the housing pressures that they are facing. We are making more than £14 billion available to councils in 2024-25, which includes £30.5 million to support work to prevent homelessness and £90.5 million for discretionary housing payments to mitigate cruel policies such as the bedroom tax. We are also investing £100 million in the multiyear ending homelessness together fund.

Scotland has a strong record of delivering rights for anyone becoming homeless—it is the strongest rights record in the United Kingdom. It has led the UK in delivering more than 126,000 affordable homes since 2007.

Alison Watson is not the only one to have lambasted Shona Robison’s disastrous budget, which contained a 26 per cent cut of nearly £200 million to affordable social housing. She said:

“It’s getting ever more desperate. We deliberately describe what’s happening as a housing emergency. That’s not empty words. What we’re seeing is exceptional ... The government says it’s doing great things, but these are the facts and figures. That’s why I call it gaslighting.”

Those are her words. She is right, is she not?

The brass neck of a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament coming here and trying—

Members: It is Shelter Scotland.

Let us hear the cabinet secretary.

Conservative members are here crying crocodile tears and trying to say that they are concerned about levels of homelessness or about the housing budget, but their party has ensured a massive cut to our capital budget.

It is Shelter Scotland saying it.

She is not answering the question.

They are not interested in hearing the facts on this point either, but it inevitably—[Interruption.]

If you could just give me a moment, please, cabinet secretary. I know that members are passionate about the issues that they bring to the chamber, but I am absolutely determined that we treat one another with courtesy and respect. We cannot listen when members are shouting or commenting.

Thank you, Presiding Officer.

When the UK Government sees fit to cut our budget, with a 10 per cent real-terms fall over the next few years, while also taking an absolute axe to financial transactions, which are important in our affordable housing supply, there will be an impact on what we can do up here.

In saying that, we know that we have to do everything that we can within our existing budgets. That is exactly why we have a record of developing affordable housing: Scotland has delivered more than 40 per cent more affordable homes per head of population than the UK Government has done in England, and more than 70 per cent more than the Welsh Government has done in Wales. We have protected the homelessness budget for the next financial year, despite facing one of the most challenging budgets since devolution.

I appreciate that Shelter would wish to see us go further, but let us be very clear that not one party in the chamber came forward with costed proposals for exactly how that could be done.

The cabinet secretary’s attack on me should be aimed at Shelter Scotland, whose words I quoted. That was an absolutely disgraceful answer.

Homelessness is at an all-time high. There are 15,625 households in temporary accommodation, which is the highest number on record. Alison Watson has said that the Scottish National Party Government’s promises to build more social housing

“look like a pipe dream”.

John Blackwood, of the Scottish Association of Landlords, has said that landlords have been warning for the past few years that

“the combination of anti-landlord rhetoric along with short-term, ineffective policies are harming investment in private rented housing in Scotland.”

Three councils have declared a housing emergency, and the entire housing sector says that there is a housing emergency. Can the cabinet secretary not admit that there is such an emergency?

I am not one of the members who come to the chamber to make personal attacks. If Mr Simpson thinks that delivering the financial context that the Government is in constitutes a personal attack, perhaps it is because he feels quite sensitive about the record of his party in the United Kingdom Government.

We will continue, within the budget that we have, to ensure that, as far as we possibly can, we will prioritise—[Interruption.]

If I might interrupt you, cabinet secretary. I confirm to all members that I will chair the meeting in the way that I see fit. I have already asked members to ensure that they treat one another with courtesy and respect, and I will continue to do so where required.

Presiding Officer, I have been shouted down by men on the Conservative benches for many a year. It did not put me off before, and it will not put me off today; I will provide the context that is required on this subject.

We have made funding of more than £14 billion available to councils for 2024-25. Within that, we have committed £35 million for specific action to end homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also taken action on temporary accommodation. That is why work is being done on the acquisitions plan, in which we are investing at least £60 million in this financial year.

We will continue to do all that we can in the current difficult circumstances. If Mr Simpson has any ability to influence the chancellor—which I doubt—I urge him to use it, even at this late stage, in order to help with our action on housing and homelessness. Indeed, other members can help, too, by joining our call for the chancellor to reinstate the Scottish Government capital budget, which will help with housing and homelessness.

I am keen to ensure that members who wish to put a question have the opportunity to do so. I would be grateful for concise questions and responses.

The cabinet secretary has confirmed that, over the past 17 years, the Scottish Government has built more affordable homes per capita than the other UK nations. Given that the Tories have cut Scotland’s capital allocation by £1,600 million over three years, their council group leader in Edinburgh is keen on homelessness provision, but not in his ward, and, under Michael Gove, London has seen a 76 per cent fall in affordable housing starts this financial year, does she agree that it is the Tories who are gaslighting?

The Scottish Government has led the UK on housing by delivering more than 126,000 affordable homes since 2007, more than 89,000 of which were for social rent. That figure includes almost 24,000 council homes.

We recognise that there is more to do, but it is important to set out to Parliament the facts, the context and what has been delivered. We have taken action in the past and will continue to do so. I appreciate that Shelter Scotland has concerns and would like us to go further; we will continue that dialogue with the organisation, and with Crisis and others.

However, I point to some of the other factors that impact on homelessness, such as, for example, the local housing allowance, which has been frozen for three years by the UK Government. A recent report from Crisis said that that was one of the main drivers in homelessness last year.

I am glad that the cabinet secretary has faith in the third sector, which has pointed out the issue. She is right to say that this country is built on a strong human rights record. What would she say, therefore, to the 9,860 children who are in temporary accommodation? If we consider the foundation stones of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we see that that situation will cause them problems later in life. What will she say to those children about when they are going to escape temporary accommodation and have certainty in their housing?

The increase in homelessness applications and in the number of households, especially with children, in temporary accommodation is concerning; the member is absolutely right about that. That is exactly why we have been taking action on the recommendations from the temporary accommodation task and finish group.

I mentioned previously the work that we have been doing in investing at least £60 million in the current financial year in an acquisitions programme. Through that, we have provided targeted funding for the local authorities with the largest percentage increases in households in temporary accommodation.

Nonetheless, the member is quite right to point out that there is more work to do on that. The Government will continue to do exactly that next year.

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Further Education (Industrial Action)

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to resolve industrial action in the further education sector. (S6T-01838)

The Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans meets the campus unions biannually and meets regularly with representatives of the sector in a number of forums. As he committed to doing, in the chamber just last week, he will continue to engage with both management and unions, as and when appropriate, as they continue to work together to reach a settlement that is both fair and affordable.

The minister continues to make clear his expectation that college management and unions should work together to do everything that they can do to reach a settlement that is both fair and affordable.

Does the minister believe that it is acceptable that further education workers in Scotland are being asked to take, as their first pay rise for three years, a below-inflation pay rise, or face compulsory redundancy?

The fair work first criteria set out a range of fair work practices, including

“payment of ... the real Living Wage ... no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts”;

the offering of

“flexible and family friendly working practices”;

and

“investment in workforce development”.

We expect the fair work first criteria to be upheld.

With regard to the specific issue that Katy Clark has raised, the matter is for colleges, and ministers have no direct role in it. In circumstances in which deductions are to be made, colleges must ensure that employees are reminded in advance of their contractual obligations, and that they are advised as to where taking action short of a strike is considered to be a breach of contract.

I would be grateful if the minister could answer the question as to whether the threat of compulsory redundancy is acceptable. Many colleges still do not recognise trade unions and, as she indicated, some are deducting 100 per cent pay for action short of a strike being taken. Will she use this opportunity to remind colleges of their responsibility under the fair work convention that she has spoken about?

As I already mentioned, operational decisions on resourcing and staffing matters are for individual institutions, and ministers have no direct role in those decisions.

The Minister for Higher and Further Education wrote to college principals last year to reiterate the importance that the Scottish Government places on use of fair work practices in the college sector. He made it clear that he expects that to include full consultation of staff and trade unions, and that colleges should create the time and space to exhaust all options for redeployment.

There are clearly financial challenges in further education, and across the entire Scottish budget. However, has the minister heard any calls from Tory and Labour MSPs alike for an increase in public services and an end to austerity? I know that I have not.

I absolutely agree that more than a decade of Westminster austerity has had a simply devastating impact on the public finances. [Interruption.] I hear the groans from Conservative members, but that is absolutely correct. The fact that austerity is now supported by Labour and the Tories only confirms that the Westminster parties are not working for Scotland.

Despite the United Kingdom Government’s autumn statement delivering a worst-case scenario for Scotland’s finances, we will continue to invest in key services and priorities. The 2024-25 budget allocates nearly £2 billion to colleges and universities, thereby supporting delivery of high-quality education, training and research.

That concludes topical questions.