Conservative Housing spokesperson Liam Kerr; Cabinet Secretary Shirley Ann Somerville and SNP MSP Paul McLennan.
by BILL HEANEY
There is a special place in my heart for homeless people.
That is because I was once one of them. I was just a copy boy when I lived in a single end off Dobbies Loan in the Townhead district of Glasgow.
The “house” had no heating and a jawbox sink into which no hot water ever poured, and I had to place a ladder up against the door at night to keep the gangs out.
Tongs Rule Ya Bass. And they did all over the East End of Glasgow at that time.
I don’t agree with her often. But the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing, Shirley-Anne Somerville, was dead right when she told the Scottish Parliament: “Homelessness figures remain far too high, which is why we are shifting our approach from crisis management to prevention and rapid rehousing.
“Through our £50 million homelessness prevention fund, the £115 million investment in discretionary housing payments, the £2 million fund to leave scheme and the delivery of 1,500 housing first tenancies, we are supporting people before they reach crisis point. Our investment of up to £4.9 billion will also support the delivery of 36,000 affordable homes.
“With pressures rising across the United Kingdom, I urge the UK Government to scrap the local housing allowance freeze and its plans to defund councils to address Home Office policy failures.”
I hope the guys sofa surfing in their pal’s flat or sleeping on their granny’s floorboards are listening to this diversion from Ms Sommerville, because that is what it is: a piece of waffle designed to protect the SNP from well-merited criticism of their housing policy over the past 20 years during which they have been in government.
Former SNP Housing Secretary Paul McLennan replied: “Homelessness charities such as Crisis have warned that Scotland’s homelessness statistics will remain stubbornly high without considerable focus and investment in homelessness prevention. Does the Cabinet Secretary agree that this is necessary? Can she advise what the Scottish Government is doing to implement meaningful change in delivering homelessness prevention?”
Shirley-Anne Somerville told him: “In my original answer I mentioned some of the work that we are doing. The reason that we are investing in homelessness prevention is to support people before they experience crisis. We do that through £30.5 million of prevention activity through the local government settlement, and we have made a record £115 million worth of discretionary housing payments this year.
“Paul McLennan will be well aware of the policies and provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 relating to the ask-and-act duty, which Crisis was absolutely pivotal in developing and ensuring were included in the legislation. I look forward to working with Crisis to ensure that the policy and legislation that we have passed on the ask-and-act duty come to fruition, are implemented, and have the impact that we all want them to have.”
But Conservative MSP Liam Kerr asked the Minister if she thought current statistics for homelessness showed that nearly 20,000 households were in temporary accommodation met the SNP’s commitment in 2023 commitment to reduce that number.
Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “The latest statistics show the scale of the challenge that we face in tackling homelessness. Although the pressures are not unique to Scotland, we are taking decisive action to prevent homelessness and reduce the need for temporary accommodation.
“We have shifted our approach from crisis management to prevention and rapid rehousing. Our £50 million homelessness prevention fund and the delivery of 1,500 housing first tenancies will support people before they reach crisis.”
But Liam Kerr was not convinced: “It is appalling that homelessness is at record levels, but the fact that there are now almost 4,000 more households in temporary accommodation than when the Government published its paper on ‘Reducing the use of temporary accommodation’ puts the failure right at the door of this Scottish National Party Government.
“How much responsibility does the Government take for the ambition that was set out in that paper having failed? Given this Government’s apparent inability to arrest the increase, does the evidence point towards further rises by March 2027?”
Shirley-Anne Somerville told the chamber: “We are absolutely determined to do everything that we can, both in the preventative space and through the supply of affordable homes, to help people out of temporary accommodation.
“That is exactly why we have committed £4.9 billion to building more homes and to our continued work on homelessness prevention. I would have more time for the anxiety that the member is expressing today if, at any point during our budget processes, he had argued that we should spend more on housing and homelessness issues.
“He shakes his head, but coming here to say that more should be done, while never challenging the [Westminster] Government to provide more funding in that area, makes for a slightly less useful discussion.”
