Chamber and committees

Given that the Scottish Parliament has not changed any of the criteria, does the minister agree that we might get a nicer “No” but it will still be a “No” and that that was not what the Parliament set out to do five years ago?

Almost two years into the pandemic, day-care centres for people with disabilities have still not reopened. Those centres used to be a lifeline for people with disabilities and their carers. A lot of charity-run day services have been open for almost a year, with proper protocols in place. Does the First Minister agree that day-care centres should reopen immediately? Will she discuss the matter with her council colleagues to ensure that services open sooner rather than later?

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the £10 Christmas payment will continue to be paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to recipients of disability living allowance and personal independence payment once the benefits are fully devolved. (S6O-00722)

The issue is that, from this time on, we are still going to have two lists. Every year, Social Security Scotland is going to have to pass that information on to the DWP. Has the minister had discussions with the DWP about devolving that power to the new agency, in order to save us administration costs?

As the cabinet secretary likes to point out on a regular basis, we all make political choices. I have been elected to this Parliament to make political choices. If the Scottish Government would work with the powers that it has and use them more effectively, rather than keep sniping about Westminster Governments, homelessness would be much less of an issue.

It is clear that, when we talk about ending homelessness in Scotland, we should not talk of some kind of utopia when nobody will ever be in the position of losing their home. No Government can guarantee that—at least, not while the population maintains a degree of free choice. Rather, we are talking about creating a system in which no one is forced to sleep rough, because the system is ready and waiting to aid them in finding accommodation.

We found that system during the pandemic. Here in Edinburgh, rough sleeping was almost completely eroded during that time. Why? Funding was provided and local authorities, the Scottish Government and the third sector worked together. However, two years on, rough sleeping is happening again. That is a challenge for all of us, but for this Government in particular.

We want to work together. I want to work with anyone in the chamber who truly wants to eradicate this blight on Scottish society, but we cannot do that with warm words; we can do it only with action and money.

There is no need to clap before I start, but thank you.

I want to contribute in what I hope is a positive and constructive way. There is a lot of agreement with regard to what the Government is trying to do, and I think that there is cross-party support. As we have heard from a number of speakers, this is a massive issue here in Scotland. Every 19 minutes, a household becomes homeless. More than 11,000 children were assessed as homeless last year, which is equivalent to 32 children per day. In light of those figures, there is no doubt that homelessness is an issue that requires a swift and concerted effort to be tackled. The basic necessities that a home provides—such as shelter and security—are fundamental, and the only way that people can thrive and fully live their lives.

Our amendment sets out an ambitious target. Eradicating rough sleeping by 2026 is no easy task, but if we focus our efforts on tackling the root causes of homelessness and building robust systems to deal with cases quickly and efficiently, I believe that it can be met. However, there is a caveat to what I have said. That target can be met only if there is the appropriate funding for local authorities and the third sector. We can have the best legislation in the world and warm words in a chamber, but if you are a local authority in Scotland or a third sector charity working with people and you do not know where your money is coming from or whether your budget is being cut in real terms, you cannot provide those services. As I have said previously in the chamber, I used to work for a charity that helped people with homelessness. Each December, we were offered a letter of redundancy, because there was no guarantee that there would be funding for next year. That cannot go on.

The cabinet secretary talks about the key role that local authorities will play, but how will they do that when their budgets are being cut yet again this year?

The minister’s predecessor committed to running some pilot schemes at by-elections to see which scheme would work best. Can he update Parliament on whether those pilot schemes have taken place yet and, if not, when they will take place?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. That was a very interesting contribution by Ms Burgess, but we were not able to intervene on her. Rather than having a debate, we listened to a speech. The chamber is not busy this afternoon. At what point will members be encouraged to give their speeches in the chamber, or a method of intervening be provided, so that we can intervene in constructive ways on members who participate remotely, in order that we can have a debate instead of just listening to speeches?

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?