Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what additional resources are being allocated to help to support the City of Edinburgh Council to address housing shortages, including the number of families in temporary accommodation, in light of figures showing that over a quarter of all children in temporary accommodation are in Edinburgh. (S6O-02606)

I am not sure whether the minister or the cabinet secretary are aware of the emergency situation that we are seeing in Edinburgh. The latest figures show that 2,265 children are living in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh, which is up 20 per cent on last year and is an increase of 930 per cent since 2002. We need more action than what we have heard in the minister’s three answers today.

As Ben Macpherson said, the capital faces unique challenges, with higher land costs and greater demand for housing. Will the Scottish Government consider a temporary accommodation fund specifically for Edinburgh, to look at new solutions and models to try to address the challenges?

A recent parliamentary question that the minister answered showed the massive disparity between Edinburgh and Glasgow in respect of the number of homes that have been retrofitted through the social housing net zero heat fund. In the past two financial years, Edinburgh has been awarded a total of 116 grants, in comparison with Glasgow's 7,260—Glasgow accounts for 65 per cent of all grants that are delivered in Scotland. I appreciate that Glasgow has a higher number of social housing landlords than other parts of Scotland, but that does not seem to account for the disparity. Why has Glasgow received a disproportionately high number of grants, and what is happening for other parts of the country?

That is not the case. As the member clearly knows, the policy is about fairness for working families as well—all families having to take difficult decisions. There is a political consensus on helping parents into work, which should be a Government priority. That requires a balanced system that provides strong work incentives and supports those who need it but that ensures fairness in our taxation system for all working families in this country.

The cabinet secretary did not mention this today, but it is a fact that the UK Government has provided more than £94 billion in direct support to help families during the cost of living crisis. The overall approach by the UK Government is evidenced by the fact that, between 2016 and 2022, the number of people in couples with children in employment has increased by 372,000 across the UK, which is a 2.7 per cent increase in the employment rate for that group.

It is right that the Government recognises that some claimants are not able to make the same choices about the number of children in their family, which is why reforms have been progressed by UK ministers. They have listened and have brought forward exceptions to protect certain groups, and many of us argued and worked constructively with ministers to make that case and ensure that those changes were made. Child benefit can be paid to all children, and the additional amount in child tax credit or universal credit can be paid for any qualifying disabled child or young person.

It is important to note that the cabinet secretary did not want to highlight the fact that, through working tax credit and universal credit, additional help for eligible childcare costs is available regardless of the total number of children in a household. The reduction in the universal credit taper rate and the £500 increase to work allowance, in addition to the normal benefit uprating and alongside the landmark kickstart and restart schemes, demonstrates a focus on supporting families to move into progressive work.

A critical issue that many families continue to face is that of the availability and accessibility of affordable childcare, which is a significant challenge and is clearly impacting on many parents’ decision to take up paid work and the ability of many to increase their working hours. I know from constituents who have contacted me about the issue that people are finding it more and more difficult to access childcare, with families having less flexibility to take up work and training opportunities.

The failure of SNP and Green ministers to deliver on the Scottish Government’s own policy of 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare for three and four-year-olds is not helping to provide that opportunity for people to access the childcare that they need to take up employment or training.

Today, the National Day Nurseries Association warned that

“Childcare businesses in around a third of local authority areas begin the new academic year without knowing how much they are being paid for funded places.”

This afternoon, we could have debated that crisis facing our nursery sector and the fact that just three of Scotland’s 32 local authorities are increasing early learning and childcare entitlement.

As I have said, there is a political consensus that the most suitable way to lift children out of poverty is to support their parents into progressive work, wherever possible. Children living in workless households are approximately five times more likely to be in poverty than those living in households where all adults are working. We should work on the consensus that exists to find solutions.

I would like to make some progress; I have only a few minutes left. I will see if I have time to let the member in later on.

Recent SNP-Green cuts to, for example, employability schemes are continuing to make things problematic for many families who are seeking that support.

The UK Government has consistently said that the best way to support people’s living standards is through good work, better skills and higher wages, and getting people into sustainable employment needs to be a key priority for both Governments working together.

Just before the debate, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice sent me a letter; at First Minister’s questions, I had asked when all benefits would be devolved to Scotland. The Scottish Government still does not have a date for that, so why, when the Government says that it is doing so much, has it not managed to find the ways to deliver what it has the powers for here in the Scottish Parliament?

The cabinet secretary’s policy calls on the UK Government to find £300 million. Where does she suggest that UK ministers find that money?

I am always in favour of the DWP and Social Security Scotland having discussions about how we simplify access to benefits. That is something that both departments need to address. As the cabinet secretary has said, the issue of uptake is also important.

The UK Government has continued to take action to help families with the cost of living. For example, the national living wage is set to increase to at least £11 an hour from next April. That increase will benefit 2 million of the lowest-paid workers in our country.

No. Can I make some progress? I will be happy to take the member’s intervention later.

It is hard to think of any UK Government in recent history, except perhaps the Governments of the first and second world wars, that has faced such huge economic challenges. The UK Government has faced the fallout and consequences of the global financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and the global energy and cost of living crisis, and that is the backdrop for difficult spending decisions that it has had to take over the past decade and those that we will have to take in the years ahead.

Ministers here have often outlined to Opposition parties the very same calculations that they have to take when deciding how to spend vital public services. The UK Government has a duty to manage the public finances carefully for future generations, and that has meant difficult decisions by UK ministers to control levels of public spending, including the welfare budget.

I am always pleased to be able to debate welfare in the Parliament, and I welcome the fact that the Government has brought forward the debate. However, perhaps what we have seen is more to do with tomorrow’s by-election than the Government wanting to have a proper debate on the issue.