Chamber and committees

He spoke about Scottish Government policies, saying:

“in Scotland if you present yourself as homeless you can choose which part of the country you want to present yourself.”

He added:

“The Government either needs to change the legislation or fund the outcomes of that”.

At First Minister’s questions last week, the First Minister made it clear that there will not be any policy changes. Can you put on record whether the Scottish Government will step in to fix that? You are right about the equal pay claims, but another part of the huge financial pressure that we face in Glasgow comes from the £75 million cost that is added because of the pressure of homelessness. Will the Scottish Government provide funding to help with that huge part of our budget?

For many developers across the country, it will come as a good degree of comfort to hear that there will be no more changes to the legislation, because they were concerned that such changes would be announced in the programme for government. The fact that that is on the record will reassure many developers, who just want to get on with building more homes.

Deputy First Minister, you launched a further consultation on the building safety levy over the summer, and the planned rates have been published. Home builders who have been in contact with me since then have said that they are

“seriously concerned that the levy will leave many projects unviable and too costly to build.”

They say:

“This will send the tax base of private homes spiralling. And it will threaten the affordable homes that are funded by private development and worsen the housing emergency.”

Are you prepared to accept a tax that will see fewer homes delivered and your tax base narrowed further? Will you commit to a viability relief, which would represent a more sensible approach, and a transitional arrangement that would delay the tax until the tax base for all tenures of housing has grown?

Thank you, Deputy First Minister, for your evidence so far and thank you to the minister as well. I should declare an interest as a sitting councillor in Glasgow.

Deputy First Minister, you will no doubt be aware of last week's Accounts Commission report, which made pretty brutal reading for all local authorities. It paints a pretty bleak picture for local councils and for democracy and accountability across the board, but particularly in my home city of Glasgow. The report made clear the eye-watering challenge that the city faces, identifying a budget gap of £110 million between 2026-27 and 2027-28. The Accounts Commission said:

“Glasgow City Council is at a critical point as it tries to tackle financial pressures, rising homelessness, growing demand for services, persistent high poverty levels and unresolved equal pay claims.”

Have you had any conversations with Glasgow City Council since that report came out?

I will quote him, so that you have the quote.

You took my thunder, convener—I was going to come in with the question. We are speaking about barriers that elected members face. One of the biggest barriers for councillors in particular is opposition—local representatives are scunnered about the fact that they do not get to challenge properly. I will not ask you to comment on the case to which you referred, Deputy First Minister, which is that of Councillor Fiona Higgins, who has evidence of councillors not only from her party but from all political parties facing barriers when trying to challenge officers on issues or policy, then being up against it when officers are referred to the Standards Commission.

Indeed, you were education secretary when the whole fiasco around the education cuts happened, so you will know very well the issue that was kicking off. I refer to what the convener said. I would really push the Government to consider the matter, because if we want to try to break down those barriers that we as councillors face to do our jobs, we need to be able to scrutinise decision makers—not only elected officials but the people who come up with the policy decisions. In relation to the code of conduct, there is a big barrier to getting real local democracy to work properly. If you want good, scrutinising councillors to be there, they need to be able to do their jobs properly.

Before the election, the Government consulted on measures to reduce the time and cost of the planning system for small and medium-sized enterprise home builders. The Deputy First Minister and the planning minister will know that SMEs rely on local supply chains, invest in local people and are critical to delivering homes in their constituencies in rural areas and on brownfield sites.

SMEs are on their knees, and planning delays are costing them time and leaving their equity tied up. When can SMEs expect to hear proposals to reform and speed up the planning system for Scotland’s local home builders?

You have pre-empted my next question, which was about the UK Government. As a councillor in Glasgow, I have tried to work cross-party with all parties to find a solution. You are correct that the issue relates to the UK Government’s asylum process, but it also comes from pressure from the Scottish Government’s policy. That is what Ricky Bell, the incoming SNP leader of the council, has said—it is not just me or Reform saying that. I accept that the Government’s policy will not change on the issue—that is absolutely fine.

You mentioned that you have had dialogue with the UK Government. Have Scottish Government officials met the UK Government? I know that the council has reached out, but the UK Government has not been interested in meeting the council to discuss the issue. Has the Scottish Government decided to step in to put more pressure on the UK Government to take its share of the burden in respect of how much money it should be giving to the council? As Councillor Bell alluded to, £75 million is a huge sum. If that were to disappear and the council did not need to pay it, Glasgow City Council’s black hole would reduce from £110 million to £35 million, which would be a lot more manageable. The Scottish Government has its part to play, and I am hopeful that you will listen to Councillor Bell on that, but have you had any dialogue with the UK Government about how it will try to step in and fix the issue?

That is very useful.

In the same interview, Councillor Bell said that Glasgow is

“carrying the burden for the whole of Scotland”.

Those are stark words from a councillor from your party. He has been open about challenging the Scottish Government and he has been clear that part of the issue lies with your department and your Government. How much will you give to Glasgow City Council to fix the £110 million black hole before we go into our budget process in a couple of months’ time?

Part of it does.

On a more general point, you touched on more devolution for local authorities, which I think that all local authorities and former councillors who are sitting at the table would agree with. We want more powers to come to our local authorities, particularly to help with the funding gap that we are facing. Sometimes, we are at the brunt of the decisions that have been made at UK and Scottish Government level, before we are asked to deliver services.

Do you have any ideas about the sort of policies that you, personally, would like to see being devolved? What sort of tax measures and funding mechanisms would you like local authorities to have so that they can try to raise more of their own income?