Chamber and committees

Good morning, panel members. Thanks for joining us today. I want to ask two questions on implementation. From the research that you have been doing, what lessons do you think that the Scottish Government could learn about how any new legislative change will be implemented?

On the emergency legislation that the Parliament passed and then had to reconsider, the social rented sector had specific concerns about the rent freeze, which was taken out of the legislation by the Government in the end. Mid-market rent still sits within that, and there are concerns over the impact that that is having, especially in my area of Edinburgh, where the building of MMR homes has completely dried up. I have put forward two lessons, and I wonder whether there are other things that you would like to tell us about. I do not know who wants to start on that.

Alex Marsh, did you want to come in on that?

I will bring Joshua Davies in, because the Nationwide Foundation’s submission states that a

“a wider scheme of tenant support and enforcement is needed.”

Could you outline what that might look like? Other panel members might have something to add, too. We have already heard some information on a home report for tenants, which is an interesting concept. What would that look like? I go back to your point, Alex, about the sector needing to have certainty over what is needed and who will do that work, both in local government and in the housing sector. I will bring you in, Joshua, as I was looking specifically at your submission.

I absolutely agree with the Minister for Housing. I hope that we will all add value through the shaping of the Housing (Scotland) Bill by such projects, which are not currently being funded.

For example, the Community Help and Advice Initiative, in partnership with Children 1st, is reaching out, in a school setting, to families who are in need of advice to make sure that that early intervention approach happens.

That said, as an MSP for Lothian, I am seriously concerned that the City of Edinburgh Council is struggling to find the solutions that are needed to address the housing crisis here in the capital: 25 per cent of all children who live in temporary accommodation are here in the city of Edinburgh. It is important that there is a bespoke solution for Edinburgh. I will also argue for that when the Housing (Scotland) Bill is progressed.

The Scottish Government’s declaration of a housing emergency is a first and welcome step forward, but we need the Government to bring forward workable solutions.

Access to early years childcare and support for vulnerable young people have been mentioned by several members this afternoon. My colleague Roz McCall made important points on how early years childcare policy is failing to deliver for parents and families. That was highlighted in the Audit Scotland report that found that the childcare sector remains “fragile” despite the expansion of free childcare.

My colleague Liam Kerr made valid and important points, particularly about children and young people who are missing from education and the fact that, in Scotland, that is not even recorded. There is a growing concern that a hidden generation of young people is not in education or employment.

There are two important issues that were not raised during the debate that I want to touch on. One is the levels of poverty among Scotland’s ethnic minority communities, which remain—disproportionately—higher than in the general population. Statistics show that one in five is living in relative poverty, which is 43 per cent of minority ethnic children in Scotland. We need to ensure that that matter is never neglected and, specifically, that it does not miss out on a bespoke solution in policies that the Government brings forward. Clearly, there are specific contributing factors that are negatively impacting on that group, but we need to ensure that there is focus on them.

Health, too, has not been touched on by many members, but I am concerned about some of the reports that we have been seeing post-pandemic that say that, statistically, children’s health is not being addressed. I recently co-chaired an event here in Parliament with Jackie Baillie to launch the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s report, “Worried and Waiting: A Review of Paediatric Waiting Times in Scotland”. That report is deeply concerning. It suggests that 48.9 per cent of children in Scotland are waiting more than 12 weeks to see a paediatric specialist and that in Lothian, again, 69 per cent of children are waiting for more than 12 weeks.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is not here for the debate. When he came along to the launch event he said that he would report back to members. We have not received that report, but it is quite clear that we are facing a crisis in paediatric health services in Scotland, for which, although it was not mentioned, the Government needs to take responsibility. Interestingly, the statistics show that, in 2012, just 1 per cent of children waited more than 12 weeks; now the figure is almost 50 per cent. We need to see action and it needs to be among the solutions and work that the Government says it wants to take forward.

Today has demonstrated that there is cross-party consensus that the best way to tackle child poverty is to ensure that parents are in fair work and can access employment opportunities. The First Minister has made it clear, both today and on taking up the job of First Minister, that eradicating child poverty is the single most important policy objective for his Government. We welcome that, and we want to work with the Government to ensure that that priority is achieved.

We are ambitious for that commitment to be matched with bold action, but simply setting a target in Parliament will not deliver that. We need to see outcomes being delivered on the ground, and our health service and our councils need to be funded and given the support that they need to achieve that.

Conservatives will support the Government and offer suggestions, but I hope that today has given us an opportunity to see that the challenge is not an easy one, although I hope that it is one on which the Government can make progress.

There is a great Scottish saying that it takes a village to raise a child. I agree with that. The First Minister mentioned that children and young people are our future, and they absolutely are. We should all want—as I believe we do—the best start in life for our young people, so that they can realise their potential.

As Douglas Ross and other members have done, I very much welcome the debate and the opportunity for Parliament to discuss the policies that have been supported collectively, across all parties, to try to address the level of child poverty in Scotland. As we have heard, the issues of child poverty are multifaceted and, as George Adam mentioned, intergenerational.

As a member of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, I promoted the committee’s undertaking an inquiry into addressing child poverty through parental employment. The working groups and lived experience groups that we set up and the visits that we undertook helped to shape the committee’s report, which Parliament debated recently. In particular, the parents whom we met in the Western Isles demonstrated how they were making ends meet by working many jobs. The transport and housing issues that they face were as important as anything else.

In the time that I have, I want to focus my comments on housing policy and a few other issues that have not been discussed, because it is key that housing outcomes be included in the Government’s drive to address child poverty in this country. As was the case earlier, I make no apology for consistently highlighting the unacceptable issue of children, young people and pregnant women being placed in temporary accommodation by councils.

As Crisis says in its briefing that homelessness is the most acute form of poverty. In our debates, we often speak about adverse childhood experiences. What could be more adverse than becoming homeless as a child or young person, or being born into homelessness?

What do we know about children’s and young people’s experience of homelessness? More than 16,000 children are officially homeless in Scotland today—that is the highest number on record. Households with children spend longer than the national average in temporary accommodation. Research suggests that, often, children who are in temporary accommodation arrive at school tired, late and hungry, that they struggle to maintain friendships and that they are likely to experience greater mental health and behavioural concerns.

Homelessness among young people aged 16 to 24 is more than twice the rate of that among older people, and young women are disproportionately affected. As Douglas Ross stated, one in 20 households in Scotland now contains someone under 25 who states that they were previously looked after by a local authority.

Young people are also more likely to experience hidden homelessness. Just this morning at the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee, we heard that around 12 per cent of all students and young people report experiencing homelessness during the course of their studies.

What more can be done? The homelessness prevention review group put forward some welcome recommendations about homelessness services being designed to meet the needs of young people.

The Housing (Scotland) Bill, which is currently before the Parliament, contains measures to ensure that services work together to prevent homelessness, and we all welcome those. However, we need to make sure that there is a focus on having an outcome.

I welcomed Beatrice Wishart’s comments about the negative impact of homelessness on tackling poverty and about the lifelong stigma that homelessness often builds. I recently visited the Rock Trust in Edinburgh to see a new policy called upstream Scotland that it has put in place. It is working to develop a preventative model by identifying young people who are at risk of homelessness in the first place. I do not know whether the First Minister has had a chance to see that or to visit the trust, which is piloting its projects in schools in Edinburgh, West Lothian and Perth and Kinross. I certainly hope that he will look at the policy, which I want to be in the Housing (Scotland) Bill because it will make a huge difference.

One of the hardest things—the cabinet secretary knows about these concerns of mine—is not having access to officials in order to look at the data that the Government has. All of a sudden, money can be found by ministers—in the past, that has usually been to keep the Greens on board. Would the cabinet secretary agree that civil servants should be made available to all parties in the Parliament to discuss all the moneys to which Government has access?

I appreciate the way in which the First Minister has approached the debate. We will all be grateful to put the election to one side in order to take part. I want to ask about the number of children in temporary accommodation, which is an issue that I have raised consistently. There are now almost 10,000 children in such accommodation in Scotland. The statistic has gone in the wrong direction every single year over the past five years. Where is the Scottish Government taking action on that?

Absolutely, if I can get some time back.

Presiding Officer,

“We can all agree that the rollout of this scheme has certainly not been without its challenges over the last few years.”

Those are not my words but those of the Deputy First Minister to her constituents and businesses in the Highlands. Tourism leaders have been clear that irreversible damage is being caused by the legislation, but that seems to be falling on deaf ears in the Scottish Government. We need to see changes, and we need to see them now. The Minister for Housing has not gone far enough, which simply demonstrates how badly the legislation was drafted and implemented in the first place. I ask the Deputy First Minister to act on the issue today, by having ministers suspend the legislation until a full review can take place and Parliament can fix the problems that the Government has created.

I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement.

We all agree that the levels of child poverty in Scotland remain stubbornly high. That is why, across Parliament, we have all supported actions and policies to help to direct support. As the cabinet secretary mentioned, the Scottish Government has declared a housing emergency, but I am disappointed that the statement contains very little reference—in fact, no reference—to the fact that, under the SNP Government, record numbers of children are trapped in temporary housing. The latest statistics suggest that almost 10,000 children are living in temporary accommodation across Scotland, with the most recent figures showing an increase of 735—8 per cent—on the previous year. That is a national scandal, on which ministers are failing to achieve any progress. Average temporary accommodation stays in most local authorities now exceed 100 days, the number of children in temporary accommodation is at a record high, and the SNP Government has cut the overall housing budget.

One aspect that the cabinet secretary did not mention is where local authorities are struggling to achieve any action. Why are local authorities saying that they cannot deliver their statutory duties because of this Government?