Chamber and committees

I absolutely agree with that. A key aspect is that, although we do not need to look towards this, there is a preventative spend issue for our health service as well. GPs often tell me that many people come to see them consistently about loneliness issues. If there is an opportunity to fund services and get people reconnected, that will make a huge difference for our public services and ensuring that people lead fulfilling lives.

Stuart McMillan made the most important speech in the debate. I hope that the minister will meet others who have been working on an aspect that he raised. Bereavement counselling and support groups are invaluable, and I congratulate Ben Kane on the work and campaigning that he has done. I have long advocated the inclusion of bereavement in the school curriculum. Establishing support groups in schools is an easy win in looking at the work that is going on in schools. I hope that the Scottish Government will work on that across portfolios, and I am sure that the minister will find that she works on that a lot. There is an opportunity to make a difference there, and I hope that it will be taken forward.

There is also an opportunity for young carers who have similar asks in relation to support needs. Some good work has been done on that recently. I hope that that is taken forward.

I think that the minister mentioned social media at the beginning of the debate. I have long been concerned about social media. When I was first elected, I organised a summit with Twitter and Facebook. The conclusion that we drew was that young people need to switch off social media and get away from it—many politicians would probably agree with that, too. One of the key messages is that we have to look at where people are investing too much of their lives in social media and get back to resilience building. Sadly, we have not seen that in the generation of today.

On older citizens, one of the biggest mistakes that was made related to the Royal Voluntary Service and changes to meals on wheels from a daily hot meal service to the delivery of frozen meals once a week. Often, it was not the frozen meals that people wanted; it was a personal connection with another human coming into their home once a day. I hope that we can look at that issue again. That service was expensive to deliver, but it is important that we do that.

To conclude, a lot of good opportunities are coming out of the debate. We will support the amendments. I hope that this is the start of a conversation about how we can really tackle loneliness across our country.

Is the Scottish Government therefore saying that only £5 million, not £10 million, will be delivered over the course of this parliamentary session?

Is there any time to take an intervention, Deputy Presiding Officer?

As has been said, the debate has been helpful, and it has presented us with the opportunity to discuss the impact that loneliness and isolation have on different groups across the whole of society. It has been really powerful to hear the various messages coming from different colleagues.

For many of us, a specific issue has been the impact on young people, and on elderly citizens, during the pandemic. The statistics that we have heard today have shocked me to the core. The idea that loneliness can increase the risk of death by 26 per cent is massive. We should all take account of what is—and I welcome the minister saying this—a public health crisis around loneliness, which we need to work to address.

When I was first elected in Edinburgh, I was shocked to learn that the city is classed as one of the loneliest places to live in the UK. Changing Britain research found that 33 per cent of my fellow Edinburgh citizens do not feel that they are involved in our community and do not feel part of it. Interestingly, here in the Holyrood community—the people who look at us as we come into this building—87 per cent of people said that they do not feel part of the community and are socially isolated, so we have a problem around this building. That is something that I have worked to address since I was elected.

Many members have raised good examples of local charities and organisations that are trying to turn the problem around, and by the sounds of things the minister will have a lot of visits coming out of the debate. I will highlight two organisations. Vintage Vibes provides a Christmas card-writing service, and it got me involved in writing cards. I was shocked that some people who live in Scotland will not receive any Christmas cards. Vintage Vibes tries to correct that by asking people who are otherwise strangers to write to individuals. Last year, after the pandemic, it started doing a Christmas dinner event to bring people together.

A lot of good work is going on, but it often comes down to where events will be hosted and how they will be taken forward. One issue that has been discussed in the debate is how we take capacity forward. The Eric Liddell Community centre in the south of the city is a real community hub. It supports more than 500 unpaid carers, 2,000 people use the community hub each month, and 117 volunteers help to deliver those services. It is a wonderful community facility, but we need more of that, and we need more capacity to be built.

That brings me to one of my pet projects, which members who have served with me on committees will know that I never stop pushing, which is the school estate. For some reason, we still have the situation where, when the school bell goes, that is it. We need to consider how our school estate could be utilised by many groups that want to move into that space and use it to support people. In many rural communities, that might be the only potential facility that could be used. As strategies are developed and funding comes forward, I hope that ministers will consider that.

We have heard complaints about council cuts in the debate. Sometimes the key thing is the extra time for janitors to be able to keep schools open, which are often the first cuts that are made. We need to consider that issue. Jeremy Balfour talked about fostering community, and day centres and church halls are key to that.

Christine Grahame mentioned feeling disconnected. I have met many constituents since the pandemic who have told me a similar story. Some have told me that they have not gone back to their lives, even though they feel confident enough to do so. In the past, they would have attended libraries and different groups, but they have not reconnected with their old lives. We need to consider that.

It is clear that something good is going on in the north of Glasgow, with all the rattling and rapping that seems to be going on. There is something in that. We need to develop the opportunity for older citizens to reconnect with the groups that they have stopped attending.

We need to focus on many areas of society. It was mentioned that college and university support workers are a key group. I have always said to the Scottish Government that I want to see it press ahead with general practice link workers, and I welcome the recruitment that has gone on around that. I have met many of them in the most deprived communities here in Edinburgh. One thing that struck me is the work that they have to undertake to build capacity. They have had to go out and establish walking groups, book clubs and gardening and growing groups, which can take capacity away from their work. The debate needs to consider how those workers do that and how they get funding for that. Small grants are often key to achieving such work.

In 2018, ahead of the Government strategy, Scottish Conservatives published our strategy to help tackle loneliness. I congratulate Annie Wells on her consistent work and campaigning on the issue, and on the publication of the loneliness action plan. It is clear that small grants are still a problem and need to be addressed. Christine Grahame and Bob Doris touched on that. I raised with the minister the issue of the Scottish Government’s £10 million commitment. I hope that it has not gone down to £6 million, and I hope that the Government will take that away and look at it again, because the third sector and local organisations that I know have not applied for or looked at that £3.8 million.

I also think that the UK Government has a role to play, with UK levelling up funding potentially being part of the discussion. Let us try to take forward the funding opportunity, as it is really important, especially when we consider the pressures on delivering many of those local services.

The Government also committed to providing £10 million of funding over the five years of this parliamentary session. Having looked at the Government’s announcements, I have been able to find commitments for only about £5 million of funding over this parliamentary session. Is the Government still committed to providing £10 million to address social isolation and loneliness?

I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The danger of toxic asbestos is common knowledge. Despite that, however, over 1,700 schools across Scotland still contain this hazardous material. It is critical that the Scottish Government and councils act as quickly as possible to remove asbestos from the Scottish school estate to ensure that pupils, teachers and staff across Scotland are learning and working in a safe environment.

What progress has the Scottish Government made on removing asbestos from schools? What impact assessments have been undertaken to look at where there is currently asbestos in the school estate and where it should be removed? What timescale will the Government develop to make sure that that happens?

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this debate on housing in its debating time. It follows the debate that the Scottish Conservatives brought to Parliament in January, calling on the Scottish Government to declare a homelessness emergency. I thank the organisations that provided the very helpful briefings ahead of today’s debate, and I also thank them for the work that they do across Scotland. They undertake life-saving and life-changing work in all our communities, so I pay tribute to them, especially for the work that they do here, in the capital, which is in my region.

At the beginning of this week, the Edinburgh Evening News reported on the 40 homeless deaths in the capital in 2022, which compared to an estimated 21 deaths in 2019. I express my condolences to the families and friends of those individuals. That shows that the crisis here, in the capital, is only getting worse.

Edinburgh is at the epicentre of the housing and homelessness crisis in Scotland today, and we need the same concerted efforts that there have been regarding the drug deaths crisis. The challenges that the capital is facing are extensive. Edinburgh has a quarter of all children in Scotland who are living in temporary accommodation today. The number of homelessness applications has risen to a record level, with Edinburgh having the highest number of live homelessness applications—6,198 in the past year alone.

After 15 years of Scottish National Party Government, Scotland is facing a housing and homelessness emergency, and we need the Government to act on it. The fact is that, in Scotland, a household becomes homeless every 18 minutes. As Shelter states in its briefing for today’s debate, a record number of children—almost 10,000—are trapped in temporary accommodation. That represents a 120 per cent increase since 2014. We are seeing rising levels of homelessness, with a 40 per cent increase in the number of households—14,458 of our fellow Scots—having to live in temporary accommodation compared with when the Government came into office. As the Scottish Housing Regulator has warned, homelessness services in Scotland today are

“at emerging risk of systemic failure”.

We therefore need a new approach and new solutions to be developed. Here, in the capital, we need an Edinburgh-specific focus. I welcome what the minister said in that regard, because I know that, in last week’s members’ business debate, MSPs said that they wanted such an approach to be taken urgently.

Delivery of the homes that Scotland needs—both social homes and private homes—needs to be planned in a way that it has not been planned to date. We need a fresh focus on the true reality that people in Scotland face today. I do not think that the Scottish Government has grasped the issue of hidden homelessness—that is certainly not counted in the statistics.

I believe that new extra-care housing models can make a real difference, so I want the Scottish Government to focus on that area. Following our conversations, I hope that the new minister will prioritise that. Recently, I attended the official opening of Rowan Alba’s Thorntree mill properties in the city, which provide nine homes for formerly street-homeless men. I pay tribute to Helen Carlin, the founder and chief executive officer of the Edinburgh-based charity, who stepped down after working in this field for 26 years. Helen started Rowan Alba in 1997 with the aim of creating a new approach to tackling homelessness. The work that it is doing in the capital should be rolled out across Scotland, so I hope that the minister will agree to visit the charity with me.

The new minister faces many challenges on all fronts, including a record number of children living in temporary accommodation, rising levels of homelessness, the negative impact of the rent control act—the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022—the lack of a cladding accord, local government and housing budget cuts, house building targets not being met and the potential collapse of the rental market in Scotland. I wish the minister well—and Scottish Conservatives will work with him—but it is now time for the SNP-Green Government to pause and reflect on what has gone wrong in Scotland. The Parliament needs to recognise that we face a housing emergency. Collectively, we need to act not only to save lives but to give everyone in Scotland the home that they deserve.

I move amendment S6M-08685.1, to insert at end:

“; notes that there has been a 12% decrease in new home starts in the year to end September 2022, compared with the previous 12 months, which adds to the housing shortfall of more than 110,000 homes since 2007; calls on the Scottish Government to look to develop new extra-care housing models to provide for people with additional support needs, and further calls on ministers to spearhead an urgent Scottish Housing Emergency Action Plan.”

I begin by thanking and paying tribute to Stephanie Callaghan for securing the debate and Karen Adam for her really valuable contribution. I also pay tribute to the National Autistic Society and Scottish Autism for the work that they do, especially in advocating for individuals across Scotland. I have had meetings with both organisations during my time as an MSP, and I thank them for their work.

The motion for the debate includes a very important sentence, which is that we should

“make the world a friendly place for autistic people”.

We have not done enough to do that. Our public services, which we have the opportunity to shape and improve, should look at how they can do more to improve outcomes, especially for people who have not been able to achieve a diagnosis. Stephanie Callaghan was right to say that, in this day and age, it is completely unacceptable that it can take four years to reach a diagnosis. I hope that the Scottish Government will use the debate to look at the potential to reform diagnosis across our services.

For some time, I have been campaigning with parents in my Lothian region on the fight that they have had to face, after having achieved a diagnosis for autism, to have their child referred for an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment, which is not routinely offered. That has to change.

I have supported a family with two boys who were diagnosed with autism by NHS Lothian some years ago. They had to watch their boys struggle to function at school and in society for up to six years before going private to seek an ADHD assessment. Both boys were diagnosed with ADHD and given the necessary support and medication. That has transformed their lives, as well as their family’s life. Given that 50 to 70 per cent of people with autism have co-morbidities that can include ADHD, it would make sense for those who meet the diagnosis criteria for autism to be routinely referred for an ADHD assessment.

I understand that NHS Lothian is developing a neurodevelopmental pathway. I welcome that and have been calling for it. I have written to previous mental health ministers and social care ministers about the issue, because we need a Scotland-wide solution. I hope that the minister will agree to meet me and other campaigners to discuss the issue, because there is an opportunity to fix it for families. I understand that ministers will have concerns about new and additional referrals to specialists, but I want to make sure that we address the issue, because proper diagnosis is needed for young people with ADHD and/or autism. That is so important to a young person’s development, and we as a country are not getting it right. I hope that the minister will comment on that in her closing speech.

In addition, two key bills are going through the Parliament: the learning disability, autism and neurodiversity bill and the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, both of which will, I hope, present an opportunity for cross-party working.

I have many concerns about how professionals respond to children with autism and their behaviours. That needs to be ironed out in the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill when it comes to recording incidents, training for individuals and how we have built a system that often escalates how children are responded to. Across the Parliament, we need to look at de-escalation and at the training that we provide to individuals.

The debate has been useful. There is lots of work to do. Many members, from all parties, want to see real and positive change. I hope that, in future years, when we have other debates on the subject, we can genuinely say that we have worked to make Scotland a friendly place for autistic people.

One of the facts that is sometimes not taken into account in arguments around older citizens is the fact that they are often undertaking caring roles in our society for loved ones including grandchildren and great grandchildren. When, specifically, does the Scottish Government intend to deliver the national kinship care payment, which it has committed to, and the extension of the period of time for which carers allowance will be paid following the death of a cared-for person?

I thank my friend and Lothian MSP colleague Foysol Choudhury for securing this important debate. As Ben Macpherson has outlined, I hope that the debate provides the opportunity for Edinburgh and Lothian MSPs to really push the Government on this issue, which is really important to our constituents. I also welcome both ministers to their positions.

We all know the negative impact that poor housing can have on people’s health—individuals and families. The Royal College of General Practitioners briefing for the debate made a number of important points about the real, direct impact that poor housing has not just in terms of housing but on our health service, too. We need to look at the matter holistically across our public services, because cold, damp homes make people ill. General practitioners are often approached by patients—I have worked with GPs on this—who have concerns about their housing and are trying to move out of those homes. They are looking for supporting letters to be able to achieve that through a housing association or a private tenancy. Those are important issues that we also need to consider.

As the Crisis briefing for today’s debate states, Scotland has some of the oldest housing stock in Europe. One in five homes were built more than a century ago, so ensuring that homes are healthy, safe and energy efficient presents a huge challenge to us all. We have to recognise that, in Scotland, about 40,000 homes that people are living in fall below tolerable standards—that was the 2019 figure from the Scottish house condition survey.

Replies to recent freedom of information requests that I have sent to local authorities have shown that a number of incidents involving the reporting of mould and damp, especially during the pandemic, have not been addressed. Foysol Choudhury made some important points in his opening speech in that regard. Along with other Edinburgh MSPs, I recently met the Edinburgh Tenants Federation. The standard of repairs that we are seeing is totally unacceptable. People are reporting cases of mould and damp, but it is just being painted over. Literally within hours, the problem is re-emerging. How we make sure that repairs take place, rather than the damp being painted over, is key. Ben Macpherson touched on that, and I hope that the housing bill might present an opportunity to address the matter. We also need to make sure that there is qualitative work, because there is not enough of that.

I welcome the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations’ briefing, which makes some positive points about the work that it, along with the Scottish Housing Regulator, has undertaken to try to make sure that standards are improving. It points specifically to a practical guide that it has developed with housing professionals to make sure that housing associations respond to incidents of mould and damp and that specific standards are put in place.

The United Kingdom Government is perhaps slightly ahead of us in that regard. Michael Gove has taken a good lead on the issue, and there is a shared need for us to look at it. Awaab’s law will make sure that there are specific laws and protocols relating to how damp and mould are reported, to the time limits that people should expect for inspections and work to take place, and to people being removed from homes that are unfit for habitation. It is important that we develop Scottish standards on that as soon as possible.

I know that I have only a few seconds of my time left. I recently lodged a written question for the Scottish Government, which Shona Robison responded to. She said:

“The Scottish Government does not have a reporting system in place to track incidents of damp and mould”—[Written Answers, 10 January 2023; S6W-12614.]

in homes in Scotland. We need to rectify that, and I hope that the minister will take that away. I welcome the fact that he is reaching out to all parties and spokespeople on the matter, and I look forward to taking the issue forward. I hope that we can have a wider debate on the issue in Government time in the coming weeks.