Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in tackling the housing emergency. (S6O-04437)

Recent statistics show the scale of Scotland’s housing emergency under the Scottish National Party. There are 250,000 people waiting for social housing, more children are trapped in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh than in all of Wales and housing starts have started to slow down. With those figures in mind, what are the Scottish Government’s specific outcomes or benchmarks when it comes to ending the housing emergency?

Despite wholesale gas and electricity prices falling in the past two years, the public are still paying 43 per cent more than they were before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. All members will have been contacted by constituents who are facing trouble with the cost of energy or inaccurate bills. No person should be faced with the choice of heating their home or feeding their family.

Communities have come together to support those people who are most at risk. Members will have received the briefing from the warm welcome campaign, which shows the 209 warm spaces that have been opened across Scotland, including Granton parish church and the Heart of Newhaven in Edinburgh. However, Governments must take the lead in protecting the most vulnerable and I welcome the Labour UK Government’s recently announced actions in that regard, such as expanding the warm homes discount to an extra 3 million families.

Let me make a bit more progress.

That expansion of the discount means that one in five Scottish households will be supported with their bills next winter. The UK Government is also taking action on energy debt, which increased by 20 per cent in 2023 alone, by working with Ofgem on a debt reset to give customers a clean slate after years of financial stress and stopping inaccurate bills and unlawful back-billing. Those common-sense changes will support households during a time of rising costs. I also support the review of Ofgem so that it meets the needs of consumers and is able to hold energy companies to account.

However, here, in Scotland, we should be going further in supporting the most vulnerable. I was contacted by a constituent who is chronically ill and must spend £143 a month to heat a single room, or she will fall seriously ill.

Let me make a bit more progress.

Her situation is not unique—carers, older people and disabled people are all facing similar struggles. The Scottish Government should use its record budget settlement from the Labour Government to ensure that no one is left behind. However, we should be clear that these solutions, although welcome, do not deal with the root cause, which is that the cost of energy in Scotland and the UK is the highest in Europe. In the long term, that is not sustainable for families and it is not sustainable for businesses.

I used to be involved in catering and I frequently speak with those in the restaurant industry who have had to close or downsize due to rising bills. That costs jobs and it costs the economy. We need to decouple ourselves from an unstable international energy market that leaves the welfare of Scots at the whim of Putin. The establishment and operation of GB Energy cannot come soon enough in that regard. GB Energy will deliver the energy independence that we need by investing in clean energy, which will lower emissions, create jobs and tackle the climate crisis. GB Energy will also invest in new and emerging technologies such as tidal energy and floating offshore wind, cementing Scotland as a global leader in the sector.

The retrofitting and upgrading of homes needs to be accelerated, as 44 per cent of Scottish homes have an energy performance certificate rating of less than C and, according to the Energy Saving Trust, increasing their EPC rating from D to C would save households up to 15 per cent on their bills. However, the Scottish Government has cut the energy efficiency and decarbonisation budget in real terms and the heat in buildings bill is stuck in limbo one year after the consultation was closed. If we do not lower energy costs and make buildings more energy efficient in the long term, Governments will be forced to continue firefighting by providing support to consumers when energy bills rise.

In this area, there is considerable overlap between devolved and reserved responsibilities. If we are to upgrade our energy grid and deliver for families in the long term, therefore, we need positive collaboration between the UK and Scottish Governments. I welcome the actions that have been announced by the Labour Government, including the warm home discount scheme and action to tackle energy debt. If we are to beat the problem permanently, however, we have to move to clean energy and bring down prices.

I begin by thanking those who took part in the people’s panel on drug deaths and the cross-committee work on the issue. With a problem as complex and wide ranging as this, it is key that there is cross-portfolio collaboration.

The first sentence of the people’s panel collective statement is a damning assessment of the current situation. It reads:

“The panel strongly believe that the same conversations keep happening, with the same actions being agreed but not enough has been implemented.”

That is right; indeed, some of the panel’s recommendations were made in 2022 by the national task force. The time for talk should be over.

Regardless of that, some of the recommendations are welcome, and I want to discuss two of them. First, on recommendation 17, which is on giving

“continued support for people in recovery ... following referral to services”,

I want to highlight the Midlothian aftercare group as a positive example. It supports graduates from the Lothians and Edinburgh abstinence programme for as long as they need it.

The Scottish Government’s response to the report states that continued support is part of medication assisted treatment—or MAT—standard 5. Although the standard has been implemented in most alcohol and drug partnerships, we need to ensure that its spirit is being followed. The Public Health Scotland review of MAT standard 5 uses the retention of cases for more than six months as a benchmark. Given that we know that addiction can be a lifelong battle and that crisis can derail recovery, we should consider how to ensure that graduates of rehabilitation receive support over a longer timeframe.

I also welcome recommendation 15, which recommends a move away from a zero-tolerance approach. When I met people from the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre, I heard about the impact of its high-tolerance, holistic approach not only in treating addiction and improving wellbeing, but in saving money for other public services.

Individuals with complex needs can sometimes be labelled as “non-compliant” or “treatment resistant”. Services must meet the needs of individuals so that they can retain them in the long term, and moving away from a zero-tolerance approach is a step towards that.

I know that the minister will talk about funding, but members will have seen the news about the £450 million gap in funding for integration joint boards, and they will also be aware of the financial situation that councils face. Those organisations will be looking to make savings in their funding for alcohol and drug partnerships and services, and we must be clear that there should be no cuts to drug and alcohol services by proxy.

I repeat the people’s panel’s remarks on the actions that need to be implemented. Much has been done and much has been said, but it will be meaningless if the level of deaths remains high and the organisations that prevent drug deaths are not properly supported.

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on how the Scottish Government is working to tackle Islamophobia in Scotland, in light of reports that anti-Muslim hate incidents across the United Kingdom reached record levels in 2024. (S6F-03871)

The First Minister will know that last Friday was the beginning of Ramadan, which is a time of reflection, peace and hope for Muslims in Scotland and worldwide. However, Muslim communities across the UK and Scotland are now facing hatred at a higher level than ever. The UK Labour Government has convened a working group on Islamophobia, which will create a definition of it. Will the Scottish Government adopt that definition? When will we see real progress on the implementation of the recommendations from the inquiry into Islamophobia from the cross-party group on tackling Islamophobia?

We should keep the petition open and write to the Scottish Government to ask whether conditions that could be the result of Covid-19 vaccination side effects are being monitored in order to assess whether those with such illnesses are presenting differently.

We should keep the petition open and write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to highlight the evidence that the committee has received, and seek an update on any discussions that the cabinet secretary has had with the chief scientific officer about commissioning or supporting research into the impact of diseases that lead to sudden cardiac death in Scotland.

We could also ask what consideration the Scottish Government has given to commissioning a pilot study on voluntary screening, including details of any engagement that it has had with organisations such as the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young, and Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland on that particular ask of the petition.

Given what the petitioner highlighted in their submission about the Italian screening programme, I wonder whether the Italian consulate would be able provide a briefing or some research on that programme, which has reduced SCD by almost 90 per cent.