SFHA calls on UK Government to support housing associations and tenants as Prime Minister names Cabinet
Key roles announced for Scottish MPs as PM urged to tackle fuel poverty and reform social security.
SFHA has congratulated the new UK Government on its election win and has set out its hopes to work constructively with the new administration to support Scotland’s housing associations and tenants.
After Labour’s landslide victory, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has already named his new Cabinet and visited Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney as both governments vowed to work collaboratively on shared interests.
Among the key appointments were Rachel Reeves MP as Britain’s first female Chancellor, who affirmed a commitment to increased housebuilding during one of her first speeches.
Ian Murray MP was named as Secretary of State for Scotland, and he will be supported in the role by the new Midlothian MP, Kirsty McNeill, who will serve as junior minister in the Scotland Office. Ian Murray supported the launch of SFHA's report into the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on Scotland’s social tenants.
Michael Shanks MP, who recently visited West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative with SFHA in his Rutherglen constituency, was named as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Energy and Net-Zero.
Reflecting on the election outcome, SFHA Chief Executive Sally Thomas said: “Following the election we’ve seen the biggest shift in UK Government representation and makeup than we’ve seen for many years.
“We need those new representatives to stand up for social housing. Many of our members, housing associations across Scotland, will have new MPS to relate to, to deal with, to work with, and we need those relationships to be as positive as they can in the interests of social tenants.
“We need many new homes, we need to retrofit the homes that we’ve got, and we urgently need to tackle poverty and inequality: to do that, we need new MPs to have the vision, fervour, passion, and enthusiasm to make those changes. “
The new UK Government will unveil its legislative agenda in the King’s Speech on July 17, SFHA has already begun work in preparing for the policies our housing associations need to see in the months and years ahead. We are also preparing our policy asks for the Budget, the Scottish Budget, and the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government later this year.