Scottish Parliament debates housing emergency
This week MSPs from all parties debated what needed to be done to change course.
Following a fractious First Minister’s Questions last week in which Labour called for urgent action, and a subsequent ministerial statement on housing to Parliament on Tuesday, yesterday saw Parliament debate whether enough had been done since a national housing emergency was declared.
As part of Tuesday's statement, Housing Minister Paul McLennan announced the £22million charitable bond programme as part of the government's response to the emergency and called on the UK government to end the bedroom tax and uprate local housing allowance.
Wednesday’s debate, brought forward by Scottish Labour, saw all parties agree that more must be done to tackle record levels of homelessness amid social home building slowdowns. SFHA had briefed MSPs prior to the debate and our calls for more urgent action were echoed.
Ultimately, a motion amended by the government which removed the claim it had failed to adequately respond to the emergency passed by 59 votes to 55 with eight abstentions.