Chamber and committees

When I was preparing for this speech yesterday, I was thinking about a case that I had just before the pandemic. It was the case of a constituent who had been in and out of Saughton prison, who contacted me to say that he did not want to go back to his family here in Lothian. On contacting public services, I was really shocked by their attitude towards that individual. Basically, I was told—I am paraphrasing—that I was unlucky that I had been landed with him. Specifically, he was described as a “problem junkie”. That attitude has to change in this country, so I hope that today’s debate can help with that. I welcome what Emma Harper had to say, because she made many positive suggestions on taking forward work in the area. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is something that we have to do.

I still think that homelessness and housing is an area that the Scottish Government is not building in to a solution to the drug deaths crisis. Figures that were released yesterday show that the number of estimated homeless person deaths across Lothian—my region—has, over the past three years, increased dramatically, from 26 deaths in 2019 to 63 deaths last year. The number of homelessness applications has also increased over the past three years across all the councils in my region, to more than 8,165, and the number of children in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh, as things stand today, is more than 1,000.

Those figures are nothing short of appalling, but we need to see them as part of the wider picture, because many people with problematic drug misuse are ending up in facilities where they are housed with other people with problematic drug misuse. If someone is trying to get off drugs—if they are trying to sustain their treatment—that approach does not work. That is something that the Parliament and the minister really need to consider. I raised the issue with the minister at the committees’ meeting this morning.

Six years ago, Alex Cole-Hamilton, Anas Sarwar, Monica Lennon and I, as our respective party spokespeople, called on ministers to declare a drug deaths emergency. Ministers dragged their feet for years, insisting that strategies were actually working. In the end, it was public outrage about Scotland’s drug deaths that really drove ministers to declare the public health emergency and to finally shift things. However, that happened after shameful decisions to cut funding, which had made the situation worse.

The Scottish Government’s approach to tackling drug deaths needs to be constantly improved and looked at and, as I have said, housing support and extra care need to be built in. That is lacking in current strategies.

Shelter Scotland has said, with regard to the situation—

Will the member take another intervention?

The member started his speech by looking for facts. The UK Government budget provides an extra £1.5 billion for Scotland’s public services. Does he not acknowledge that that is additional money for the services that we all care about?

It is quite clear whom the cabinet secretary does not want to help: it is the people she sees as the super-rich—people like nurses, police officers and teachers in our country. They want support.

I do not have time. I have only four minutes.

We need the Government to look at the situation. It used to support helping Scots to get on to the property ladder, but it has changed its mind and turned its back on the very people it used to support.

Scottish Conservatives want home ownership to be affordable for every Scot. That is why we are proposing a rent-to-own scheme, which will help people to save for a deposit by giving them a percentage of their rent back when they decide and are ready to purchase their own home.

It is clear that more and more potential first-time buyers in Scotland are being priced out of the market, especially in the capital. Scottish first-time buyers must be at the heart of a Scottish Government housing strategy. It is sad that the Scottish Government seems to have forgotten about them.

That is why my amendment for today’s debate calls on the Scottish ministers to reinstate help to buy and to develop a new rent-to-own scheme. We need a bold new initiative to help people to get on to the property ladder in Scotland. Rent to own can do just that.

A generation of potential first-time buyers are at risk of being completely left behind by this SNP-Green Government. That is not acceptable.

It is also clear that we are starting to see the unintended consequences of the SNP-Green-Labour Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Act 2022, as they filter through into the social rented sector. Members who meet the sector are seeing how it is redrawing financial plans, scrapping business plans for new socially rented homes. Ultimately, fewer homes will be available. That will be the legacy of this SNP-Green Government.

Will the member take an intervention?

Like me, the member will be speaking to housing associations across the region that we represent. Due to the rent control legislation, they are now looking at their investment portfolios and taking affordable housing out of their future capital projects. That will result in fewer homes for our constituents. Does the member acknowledge that that legislation was a mistake?

I thank the Labour Party for bringing this debate to the Parliament today. I always welcome the opportunity to debate housing policy, and, given the housing crisis that we face in Scotland, it is clear that we need action from the UK and Scottish Governments to support home owners and people who seek the dream of home ownership.

Like other countries around the world, the UK faces a profound economic challenge as a result of President Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the recovery from the Covid pandemic. That seems to have been overlooked in the Labour motion and in the minister’s speech, which is disappointing.

The fact is that this SNP Government has failed to address Scotland’s housing crisis, which has made it harder for people to get on to the property ladder. The Scottish Government’s most recent housing statistics reveal that housing completions across all tenures in Scotland are still below pre-Covid levels. We are not building the homes that Scotland needs. We should all be concerned about that.

At the same time, SNP and Green ministers have closed off two crucial support schemes for first-time buyers by scrapping help to buy and the first home fund. First-time buyers in England can still access support and shared ownership to help them on to the property ladder. That is important.

I am sorry, but I do not have time. I have only a few seconds left.

That is why members on the Conservative benches think that it is time to take forward new schemes to provide the support that our tenants of socially rented properties need. For too long, such tenants have been neglected.

The 2022 act will also mean that there are fewer privately rented properties. Here, in the capital, that will be a total disaster. All parties in this Parliament who supported the rent controls legislation should take responsibility for that.

Scottish Conservatives have a robust plan to support our first-time buyers. It is time that the SNP, the Greens and the Labour Party matched that ambition.

I move amendment S6M-06898.1, to leave out from “following” to end and insert:

“due to Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; welcomes the billions of pounds in cost of living support packages announced by the UK Government to support the most vulnerable households during this difficult period; recognises that Scottish Government decisions have contributed to the cost of living crisis by failing to address the housing crisis that exists in Scotland; condemns the Scottish Government for scrapping the Help to Buy scheme that helped prospective homeowners to get on the property ladder, and calls on the Scottish Government to reintroduce a Help to Buy scheme and develop a Rent to Buy scheme.”

When it comes to appalling housing standards, the cabinet secretary should start looking in the mirror because, here in the capital, we have a record number of children living in temporary accommodation. That is on her watch, and she should hang her head in shame for that alone.

Let me tell the cabinet secretary what the UK Government is doing. We have provided £1.5 billion in additional money for public services. We have protected the triple lock and we are increasing benefits in line with inflation. We are raising the national living wage to £10.42 per hour and capping energy bills until 2024. That is a record to be proud of. The cabinet secretary should start thinking about her own responsibilities.