Chamber and committees

Do you have an example of anywhere in the world where a rent controls policy has delivered such outcomes?

Looking at the impact that controls are having in Ireland, currently—which I raised during a previous session—do you think that there will be the same outcome in Scotland?

Finally, the legislation requires ministers to ensure that tenants who are affected by the rent cap and evictions moratorium receive appropriate information. How has that been provided to private landlords to ensure that tenants are aware of the legislation and the support and advice that are available? Do you have examples of good practice?

Although I am happy to support the proposed extension, I have concerns, because it feels as though many of the issues that have been highlighted have not been properly taken on board and as though the opportunity has been missed to look again at how the measure can be applied across councils. Sadly, I think that we will be back here discussing the issue in the autumn. My council here in Edinburgh certainly does not seem to be in a space in which the licence can be delivered.

Although I welcome the extension, six months is not enough, and the Government has not taken on board the potential opportunities to change the legislation. We will support the motion today, but I wanted to put that on record.

I, too, welcome James Dornan back to the Parliament. Those of us who serve on the Social Justice and Social Security Committee get to see him every week on the television, but I welcome him back to the Parliament in person.

Over the past few hours, we have heard a new word in politics: “de-endorsement”, which can be applied to many SNP members’ decisions about the party’s leadership. Today, I welcome the acting finance secretary’s de-endorsement of many parts of his budget. I welcome the fact that he has listened to the many concerns that were raised and has changed some spending commitments in the budget.

In recent weeks, I have met councillors across Scotland from all parties and have listened to their concerns. I thank all those who work in local government across our country, because they have gone the extra mile during the pandemic to support all our communities, but they still feel that they have not been given the support that they need to carry on and to recover from the pandemic.

For many in local government, it feels like the challenges and pressures on local services have not passed and are very real today, and that those services have not recovered. After 15 years of the SNP Government underfunding local government in Scotland, there are increasing concerns over long-term financial sustainability and the problems that councils across the country face.

Put simply, for council leaders who I have spoken to across Scotland, there is nothing more that they can cut, beyond core services, to balance their budgets. They will welcome the additional £100 million. Many will start balancing that with the funding floor, which will probably result in the finance secretary giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

Despite that additional money, councils will be setting their budgets in the coming weeks and will still have to make significant cuts to services. In Clackmannanshire, councillors are considering reducing home to school transport and the amount of money that is spent on the delivery of secondary school subjects. In Kenny Gibson’s area of North Ayrshire, the Arran outdoor education centre could be shut to save cash. Beyond education, leisure services will face cuts in many areas. Inverclyde Council is looking to close Greenock sports centre and Port Glasgow swimming pool. In my region, West Lothian Council has suggested cuts for library services, including in West Calder. In West Dunbartonshire, the council is thinking about reducing opening hours for recycling centres.

Many charities are worried about the loss of grant funding from local authorities. That is concerning many people in our third sector, who feel that they could be the last in line to receive vital funding for the services that they deliver. Like most councils, Aberdeen City Council and West Dunbartonshire Council are considering increasing many charges. East Ayrshire Council is now looking at a 4 per cent increase in rent charges for temporary accommodation. In East Renfrewshire, there is already a £40 charge on top of council tax for households who want additional garden waste removed, and that will go up to £60.

The finance secretary talked about a better deal and working with councils and council leaders. We really need to move towards that. In the most recent budget round, councils have looked in many imaginative ways at changing their funding and at how they can reprofile council debt, especially around public-private partnership schemes. I do not see anything else that they can do in future for which they will not need Scottish Government support to balance budgets.

I take the member’s point that there are a number of competing factors, but I will not apologise for pointing out that we are in a housing crisis and that we have the highest number of children and pregnant women living in temporary accommodation. Here in the capital, we are seeing levels of homelessness that we have never experienced before, and the response from the SNP-Green Government is to cut 16 per cent from the housing budget and to underfund the City of Edinburgh Council and our health board.

On delivering outcomes, ministers really need to consider what they are not doing for Edinburgh. I make no apologies for raising that in Parliament today, because decisions that are taken to cut affordable housing supply programmes at the very time that we are seeing those increases will come back to haunt the Government. I think that, in the autumn, we will see a housing crisis in Scotland and the potential collapse of the housing market here in Edinburgh, and SNP and Green members will be held responsible for that.

It is critical that we now move towards ways in which local authorities can meet the cuts and consider what impact that will have on our communities. We will be hearing about that in the coming days. However, it is clear that this SNP-Green budget is a pay more, get less budget, which is not something that we can endorse. As my colleague Liz Smith says, after 15 years of SNP government, it is clear that ministers have no fresh ideas to help grow the Scottish economy and that, ultimately, Scottish taxpayers are paying the price for that failure to stimulate our economy.

Like me, Pam Duncan-Glancy represents a city that has experienced some of the highest increases in homelessness in recent months. What impact will the budget have on that?

Will Pam Duncan-Glancy give way?

I welcome that, but we need to formally embed that partnership between the Scottish Government and local authorities.

The Barnett formula ensures that the Scottish Government budget is linked to UK Government spending. The UK Government has bailed out the Deputy First Minister to the tune of £146 million of additional spend, which I believe is now available, but our councils are not necessarily seeing the same uplift in their budgets. We need to seize that vital opportunity and ensure that our councils are properly funded as we ask them to deliver more and more policy commitments. It is not just about one year; it is about how we take forward those policies. The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee hears again and again that local councils cannot match the proposals with policy delivery, because the resources are not forthcoming.

One key issue that I raised in the stage 1 debate, and that Sarah Boyack touched on, is the housing crisis and the cut to the housing budget. We need to reflect on that. It is not just Labour and Conservative politicians who are warning against that cut—representatives of Shelter were outside the Parliament today to outline their concern. We have record levels of people living in temporary accommodation.

If I can get the time back, I will.