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STV News
15-05-2025
- Business
- STV News
Government urged to create action plan one year after housing emergency declared
A Holyrood committee has urged the Government to create a national action plan to address the housing emergency. MSPs voted to declare a housing emergency one year ago, following on from a similar move by local councils as homelessness reached record levels. An inquiry by the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee found the housing emergency was 'years, even decades in the making and was therefore both predictable and preventable', according to convener Ariane Burgess. As of September 30 last year, 16,634 households were living in temporary accommodation, including 10,360 children, with both figures the highest on record. Figures for 2024 also show that the number of homes built dropped by 7%, while new homes started by construction firms fell by 9%. The committee's report urges ministers to create a plan and work across all Government departments to tackle the issue. 'The committee recommends that the Scottish Government develop a national overarching housing emergency action plan by the end of this session of Parliament in collaboration with the wider housing sector,' the report said. 'This should include clear milestones and outcomes to enable progress to be measured. 'A whole-systems approach is required that is led by the Scottish Government and its partners in order to stabilise housing in Scotland and help prevent future emergencies. 'The committee therefore recommends that the Scottish Government sets out how it will better coalesce its own departments around tackling housing need and ensure that wider policies across different portfolios can have a positive impact.' Ahead of the anniversary of the declaration, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville touted the Government's action in the past year and its plans for the future, including spending £768 million on affordable housing, funding local councils, and investing £2 million in the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership to free up unused housing stock. The committee also urged the Government to confirm how the increase in housing spending this year, around £200m from last year, will impact its target of building 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. Ms Somerville said: 'Providing everyone in Scotland the right to a warm, safe and affordable home is essential to our key priority of eradicating child poverty. 'The measures we have taken have meant increased investment in the affordable housing sector and fewer families living in temporary accommodation. 'As a result of our actions, an estimated more than 2,600 households with children have been helped into affordable housing in the year up to December 2024. 'We have delivered 136,000 affordable homes, with 97,000 of those for social rent, between 2007 and the end of December 2024. 'We are also working to identify and turn around empty private and social homes and encouraging more funding streams into the sector through our housing investment taskforce. 'It is encouraging that we are seeing a reduction in families in temporary accommodation in some local authority areas. 'However, we know there is more to do, which is why we have increased the affordable housing budget for this financial year by £200m to £768m. In the longer term, we will also introduce homelessness prevention measures and a system of long-term rent controls in our Housing (Scotland) Bill. 'We are determined to tackle the housing emergency and ensure that everyone in Scotland can have somewhere to call home.' Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin described the Government as 'arrogant and out of touch', adding: 'Since the SNP was forced to declare a housing emergency a year ago, housebuilding has plummeted, the number of children in temporary accommodation has risen to a record high, and rent and house prices have continued to climb. 'The SNP's Programme for Government has been described as a 'programme for homelessness' and its incompetent housing minister is still in a job. 'The SNP's desperate spin won't wash with the people who are living through the dire consequences of this housing emergency.' Scottish Conservative housing spokeswoman Meghan Gallacher said: 'This stark report makes it clear the SNP have been missing in action since finally agreeing a housing emergency was occurring on their watch. 'They have continued to recklessly support rent controls, which do not work, and have continued to ask cash-strapped councils to do more with less as they try to meet local demand for housing. 'With a record number of children in temporary accommodation and housebuilding collapsing across Scotland, the SNP Government needs to wake up. 'They should mark this anniversary by accepting that current housing policies are failing, ditch plans for permanent rent controls, and instead encourage much-needed investment into our flagging housing sector.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scotsman
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
MSPs demand action plan from ministers to tackle Scotland's housing emergency
Figures for households and children in temporary accommodation are highest on record Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A Holyrood committee has urged the Government to create a national action plan to address the housing emergency. The Scottish Government has been urged to create a national action plan to address the housing emergency | PA MSPs voted to declare a housing emergency one year ago, following on from a similar move by local councils as homelessness reached record levels. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad An inquiry by the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee found the housing emergency was "years, even decades in the making and was therefore both predictable and preventable", according to convener Ariane Burgess. The Scottish Government has been urged to create a national action plan to address the housing emergency | PA As of September 30 last year, 16,634 households were living in temporary accommodation, including 10,360 children - with both figures the highest on record. Figures for 2024 also show the number of homes built dropped by 7 per cent, while new homes started by construction firms fell 9 per cent. The committee's report urges ministers to create a plan and work across all Government departments to tackle the issue. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "The committee recommends that the Scottish Government develops a national overarching housing emergency action plan by the end of this session of Parliament in collaboration with the wider housing sector," the report said. Need for clear milestones and outcomes "This should include clear milestones and outcomes to enable progress to be measured. "A whole-systems approach is required that is led by the Scottish Government and its partners in order to stabilise housing in Scotland and help prevent future emergencies. "The committee therefore recommends that the Scottish Government sets out how it will better coalesce its own departments around tackling housing need and ensure that wider policies across different portfolios can have a positive impact." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ahead of the anniversary of the declaration, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville touted the Government's action in the past year and its plans for the future, including spending £768 million on affordable housing, funding local councils and investing £2 million in the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership to free up unused housing stock. Target to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 The committee also urged the Government to confirm how the increase in housing spending this year - around £200 million from last year - will impact on its target of building 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. Ms Somerville said: "Providing everyone in Scotland the right to a warm, safe and affordable home is essential to our key priority of eradicating child poverty. "The measures we have taken have meant increased investment in the affordable housing sector and fewer families living in temporary accommodation. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "As a result of our actions, an estimated more than 2,600 households with children have been helped into affordable housing in the year up to December 2024 . "We have delivered 136,000 affordable homes, with 97,000 of those for social rent, between 2007 and the end of December 2024 . "We are also working to identify and turn around empty private and social homes and encouraging more funding streams into the sector through our housing investment taskforce. "It is encouraging that we are seeing a reduction in families in temporary accommodation in some local authority areas. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "However, we know there is more to do, which is why we have increased the affordable housing budget for this financial year by £200 million to £768 million. In the longer term we will also introduce homelessness prevention measures and a system of long-term rent controls in our Housing ( Scotland ) Bill. "We are determined to tackle the housing emergency and ensure that everyone in Scotland can have somewhere to call home." SNP government branded 'arrogant and out of touch' Scottish Labour housing spokesman Mark Griffin described the Government as "arrogant and out of touch", adding: "Since the SNP was forced to declare a housing emergency a year ago, housebuilding has plummeted, the number of children in temporary accommodation has risen to a record high, and rent and house prices have continued to climb. "The SNP's Programme for Government has been described as a 'programme for homelessness' and its incompetent housing minister is still in a job. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "The SNP's desperate spin won't wash with the people who are living through the dire consequences of this housing emergency." Scottish Conservative housing spokeswoman Meghan Gallacher said: "This stark report makes it clear the SNP have been missing in action since finally agreeing a housing emergency was occurring on their watch. "They have continued to recklessly support rent controls which do not work and have continued to ask cash-strapped councils to do more with less as they try to meet local demand for housing. "With a record number of children in temporary accommodation and housebuilding collapsing across Scotland , the SNP Government need to wake up. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
STV News
14-05-2025
- Climate
- STV News
Firefighters battle large woodland wildfire for fifth day
Fire crews remain at the scene for the fifth day after a large woodland wildfire broke out over the weekend in West Lothian. Emergency services were dispatched to the blaze in a woodland area near Fauldhouse at about 12pm on Saturday. On Wednesday morning, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed two appliances remained at the scene. At it's height 50 firefighters and a helicopter were tackling the fire. Somesortofsponge The wildfire broke out as an 'extreme' risk of wildfires was issued until Monday due to the warm, dry weather. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the incident highlighted the need to reverse cuts to fire and rescue services. The Scottish Government said it continued to support the SFRS with budget increases. 'The allocation of resources, including equipment and appliances, is, of course, an operational matter for SFRS,' a spokesperson told STV News. The wildfire broke out as an 'extreme' risk of wildfires was issued until Monday due to the warm, dry weather. The Scottish Greens claimed the fire, as well as the extreme wildfire warning issued across the country, signals that Scotland is on the frontline of the climate crisis. MSP Ariane Burgess said: 'We aren't even in the height of our summer yet and we are already seeing our woodlands burning and warnings in place across much of the country. 'We should all be grateful to the firefighters who are risking their lives and putting their safety on the line to protect us and our communities. 'It's not just the immediate threats they face, but also the lifelong increased health risks from exposure to smoke and toxic substances. 'We need to do everything we can to ensure that they are well supported and properly equipped for the growing threats that we face from increasing temperatures. Yet, in some parts of rural and island Scotland the fire service is facing a challenge to fill the crews, and some of their stations are in bad need of upgrade.' Community safety minister Siobhian Brown said: 'As has been shown in recent days, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SRFS) is fully prepared to respond to wildfires and I am grateful to them and other first responders for their outstanding efforts to keep people and property safe. 'We continue to support SFRS with substantial year-on-year budget increases that enable it to deliver the high standard of services required to keep communities safe. 'This year's Budget includes £412.2m for SFRS – an increase of £18.8m – and Scotland continues to have more firefighters per capita than other parts of the UK. 'The allocation of resources, including equipment and appliances, is, of course, an operational matter for SFRS.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
STV News
13-05-2025
- Climate
- STV News
Firefighters battle large woodland wildfire for fourth day
Fire crews are still tackling a large wildfire that broke out in West Lothian four days ago. Emergency services were dispatched to the blaze in a woodland area near Fauldhouse at about 12pm on Saturday. On Tuesday morning, a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) spokesperson confirmed that three appliances remained at the scene. Fauldhouse Today It comes as an 'extreme' risk of wildfires was issued until Monday due to the warm, dry weather. Fauldhouse Today At it's height 50 firefighters and a helicopter were tackling the fire. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the incident highlighted the need to reverse cuts to fire and rescue services. It comes as an 'extreme' risk of wildfires was issued until Monday due to the warm, dry weather. People who live within or who may enter rural environments have been urged to exercise caution. Somesortofsponge People who live within or who may enter rural environments were urged to exercise caution. Somesortofsponge The Scottish Greens claimed the fire, as well as the extreme wildfire warning issued across the country, signals that Scotland is on the frontline of the climate crisis. MSP Ariane Burgess said: 'We aren't even in the height of our summer yet and we are already seeing our woodlands burning and warnings in place across much of the country. 'We should all be grateful to the firefighters who are risking their lives and putting their safety on the line to protect us and our communities. 'It's not just the immediate threats they face, but also the lifelong increased health risks from exposure to smoke and toxic substances. 'We need to do everything we can to ensure that they are well supported and properly equipped for the growing threats that we face from increasing temperatures. Yet, in some parts of rural and island Scotland the fire service is facing a challenge to fill the crews, and some of their stations are in bad need of upgrade.' The Scottish Government has been asked for comment. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The National
12-05-2025
- Climate
- The National
Huge wildfire in West Lothian continues amid 'extreme' risk
At the height of the incident, 50 firefighters were working to extinguish the flames in woodland near Fauldhouse. A helicopter was also used to drop water on the burning trees. It is understood the fire broke out some time before 11.43am on Saturday, and on Sunday afternoon the fire service said it still had the same number of engines on the scene. READ MORE: Waltzer car 'crashed off track with children inside' at Scottish fairground Those living nearby have been urged to keep their windows and doors closed due to the smoke. The fire service had earlier warned of an 'extreme' risk of wildfires due to the warm, dry weather. Crews were still at the scene after 10pm on Sunday. An SFRS spokesperson said: 'At its height yesterday, more than 50 firefighters were working at the scene to make the area safe. 'They continue to be supported by a helicopter which is dropping water on the affected area. 'Local residents are being asked to avoid the area and keep windows and doors closed if they are affected by smoke.' The Scottish Greens claimed the fire, as well as the extreme wildfire warning issued for all of mainland Scotland, signals the country is on the frontline of the climate crisis. MSP Ariane Burgess said: 'We aren't even in the height of our summer yet and we are already seeing our woodlands burning and warnings in place across much of the country. 'We should all be grateful to the firefighters who are risking their lives and putting their safety on the line to protect us and our communities. 'It's not just the immediate threats they face, but also the lifelong increased health risks from exposure to smoke and toxic substances. 'We need to do everything we can to ensure that they are well supported and properly equipped for the growing threats that we face from increasing temperatures.' She added: 'Scotland is blessed with amazing and iconic landscapes that attract visitors from across the world. 'But they are also homes and places where people live and work, and, with our climate changing around us, they are being put at growing risk and thrust on to the frontline of the climate crisis.'
