Chamber and committees

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.

I have a few questions further to the theme that Willie Coffey pursued. One of the issues that have been raised with me relates to the new regulations not including schools, hotels, hospitals and, potentially, other high-risk buildings. What are the witnesses’ views on why those have not been included?

Yes—over 11m.

Calum McQueen, do you have knowledge of that?

At UK level, £40 million has been committed to delivering that in England and Wales. I am not sure that the Barnett consequentials of that have necessarily come through to the individuals who would do that work in Scotland. Do we have enough professionals to do that work?

Thanks. I have a couple of other questions that I may come back to later.

One case has progressed to the point where remedial work has taken place. In theory, that case is a pilot for the 105 other properties that are affected. It is important for householders to see a potential end to the problem. Is there anything in the completed project that has shown that it can be used as a Scottish example to demonstrate that work can be progressed so that all those properties can be surveyed and then delivered?