Chamber and committees

I am aware of the City of Edinburgh Council’s recent announcement on the issue. The emergency measure taken by the council will redirect all available council-owned housing stock to people who are experiencing homelessness, with the exception of those with a disability with gold priority for housing or those who are awaiting discharge from hospital.

It will be essential to monitor the impact of that temporary measure, as the council seeks to fulfil its legal responsibilities as well as reduce the use of unsuitable temporary accommodation in the city. The Government will continue to deliver our investment of £768 million in affordable housing this year, the majority of which will be for social rent.

The EY ITEM club forecast reflects the negative impacts that global trade disruption and uncertainty will have on the economy, highlighting the need to commit ourselves to Europe and its single market.

We will continue to do all that we can to support businesses and households through those challenges. Our programme for government will focus on delivery, including targeted initiatives to boost Scotland’s economic prospects now and for the long term, particularly sustainable and renewable energy resources, to draw in new investment and create rewarding and well-paid jobs.

There has to be a careful assessment of the impact of zonal pricing on a variety of factors. For example, will it bring down energy prices for householders, which is the absolutely critical and urgent priority? Will it secure the necessary investment in the future of our energy systems? Will it enable us to contribute towards the economic growth and economic development agenda? I notice that Mr Fraser asks me this question while being associated with a party that presided over sky-high energy prices in this country and did absolutely nothing about the problem.

It is for lots of reasons—not least that the cost of nuclear power will not bring down energy prices for householders in this country. Mr Findlay wants me to press ahead with the development of new nuclear power stations. The Hinkley Point C project—a nuclear power station—was due to be completed in 2025 at a cost of £34 billion. On current estimates, it is now expected that it will cost £46 billion and be delayed until 2031. If it was supposed to cost £34 billion but will now cost £46 billion, how will that bring down fuel bills in this country?

I say to Mr Findlay that we have a very developed strategy—[Interruption.]

We have a very developed and successful strategy for attracting investment to develop renewable energy capacity in Scotland. We have achieved significant decarbonisation of our electricity networks through the development of renewable technology. A few weeks ago, the Deputy First Minister and I, along with the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, led an investment conference in Edinburgh, which brought hundreds of investors into Scotland to invest in renewable energy. That is the future for this country—clean, green energy that will lower fuel bills. People will get that from an SNP Government.

First, I express my support for and solidarity with all those in the Grangemouth workforce who face the prospect of losing their employment as a consequence of Petroineos’s decision to stop refining there. The company itself has come to that decision. As Mr Findlay will know from what I have said previously, I judge the decision to be premature, because there is an on-going need for refining activity. Indeed, such activity will take place in other parts of the United Kingdom, despite the issues that Grangemouth faces.

As we have been doing with Unite the union, the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the workforce at Grangemouth to support the individuals who are affected. In collaboration with the UK Government and Petroineos, we will progress our work to explore alternative business ideas for developing the Grangemouth site so that it could contribute to our net zero agenda. An early decision on the Acorn carbon capture and storage project would help us to advance those efforts significantly.

Let me reassure Mr Griffin that the Government is not spending all its time reviewing the affordable housing supply programme target; it is spending its time making sure that more houses are available for occupation by individuals in temporary accommodation or facing homelessness. The actions of the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and the Minister for Housing in making more resources available to local authorities to tackle void accommodation are having an impact on the availability of accommodation in the city of Edinburgh as we speak. We have pivoted in our policy to ensure that more accommodation can be available.

Also, over the lifetime of this Government, we will have built more houses per head of population than in any other part of the United Kingdom, by a country mile. We have invested £768 million in the affordable housing supply programme for the current financial year, which will be spent and will support the increased supply of housing. Mr Griffin and his colleagues never voted for that, and he has a bit of a brass neck to come here and complain to me about housing when he is not prepared to vote for the money that is being given to make something happen about it.

I have every sympathy with the homeowners in Torry and the issues that they face. I understand that ministers are meeting residents and homeowners tomorrow to discuss those issues, and I am sure that the suggestions that Mr Kerr has made will be part of that conversation.

I join Rona Mackay in indicating support for the important role that the output of PA Media and PA Scotland plays in reporting events and political discourse in Scotland. PA staff are an integral part of the authoritative and reliable reporting of events and political engagement, which is essential for our democracy and supports the availability of information to news organisations the length and breadth of the country. I have written to PA Media, urging it to reconsider the proposals, and I hope that the organisation is able to take a different approach and ensure the independence, long-term sustainability and resilience of news reporting in Scotland through it.

I drew together a gathering as a consequence of the initiative that was started by the Daily Record and some of the families affected by the unacceptable violence that Mr O’Kane refers to. I was pleased to host that summit on 13 January with cross-party representation. If memory serves me right, Pauline McNeill from the Labour Party attended and made a constructive contribution to the discussion, in which members of all parties and ministers participated and listened to the voices of young people.

Let me say at the outset that what Mr O’Kane recounts to the Parliament is completely unacceptable. We are taking a number of measures through our various awareness campaigns, such as the mentors in violence prevention programme, which is delivered in more than 200 schools in local authorities across the country; the work of the cashback for communities programme; the work of fearless, the youth arm of Crimestoppers; and the work of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit. All those measures are aimed at creating a culture in which the things that were set out by Mr O’Kane do not happen to young people. We invest in facilities around the country through a variety of interventions that are set out in the Government’s budget, which has delivered a real-terms increase to local authority funding and supports third sector interventions to meet the needs of communities around the country. We will continue to do that.