Chamber and committees

I would be very interested in the committee getting an update on the 16 recommendations from the review of the supersponsor scheme, which I think was put out in November last year, and an update on the £50 million scheme that was launched in September.

You mentioned repurposing and accessing homes. There are 43,000 empty homes in Scotland—there are more than 9,000 in Edinburgh. I think that there is huge interest in a cost-effective way of getting access to homes. I am thinking in particular about those who have been hosts, given that it has been almost one year since we began to recognise the devastation. Many houses and communities have been bombed and destroyed, so this is not now about the short term, as you have correctly acknowledged; it is about giving people that medium-term support.

Could we have an update on the £50 million scheme and the extent to which we can use it to repurpose existing empty homes, which would be cost effective? Could you also say something about continuing support for hosts? Many are over their six months. Are you bringing new hosts into play? Can you talk about what is happening now?

I come back to housing—and I direct members to my entry in the register of members’ interests in terms of my former employment.

I think that support to get empty homes back in use is very much seen as a win-win, because we have a housing crisis within a housing crisis. It will not be straightforward, but the £50 million fund could be really significant.

I am glad that you have put on the record your comments about the issues facing hosts, because constituents have told me of their worries about the money running out after six months. It may not be enough, but it is important to let people know that support is there.

You also mentioned modular housing in your introductory remarks. I think that most of us were assuming that that had now been ruled out, given the focus of the £50 million. There are a lot of concerns about that. Do you want to say anything more about it on the record?

That would be very helpful, because there is a huge amount of concern about the issue. You mentioned issues such as local authority capacity, schools and people being able to get health support, aside from the welfare of people living in modular accommodation. We would be very keen to see any updates on that because there are real worries. That is why the focus on bringing existing homes back into use—homes that are safe and integrated in communities—is, as I said, potentially a win-win. In Edinburgh, we have people from Syria and Afghanistan who are still in temporary accommodation, so it has to be seen as an urgent issue that requires investment.

I have a brief question to follow up on that. I seek clarity on the comment about host accommodation and how people will not open their homes for a infinite time. I have heard from quite a few people who volunteered but were not picked at the time. Are there still people who volunteered to be hosts whose accommodation is not being used, and is that a potential route, given the other huge challenges that you face with providing temporary accommodation?

In a way, that is why I was keen to raise the issue. I take on board the convener’s comments about not straying into other committees’ remits. Nonetheless, thinking about people who might move to Scotland for whatever reason, we might potentially have Hong Kongers coming here in the future. It is both an issue for now and something that has been there for quite a while, so we need to keep that on the agenda.

The COSLA submission refers to potential cuts in support for people in local authorities; I think that you said that there is a cut of nearly 50 per cent from the UK Government. Will you say a bit more about how that will have an impact? I know that £10,000 sounds like a lot, but, even considering only the education and housing aspects, it is nothing in comparison with the crisis that you face.

That is really useful feedback, because the message that we get from NHS Lothian and GPs is that they are at capacity, so even marginal increases can be challenging. The point about needing additional funding is well made.

I go back to the issues of homelessness and housing. I direct members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. I take the point that it is a long-term issue, but we have been raising the issue of a long-term solution for about six months now.

I want to go back to the evidence that we have just heard from Gavin Sharp, Pat Togher and Lorraine Cook from COSLA and focus on access to housing. Given that we have a housing crisis, what opportunity is there to accelerate bringing homes into use? Homes can be empty for multiple reasons. There are 43,000 empty homes in Scotland, including 9,000 in Edinburgh and nearly 2,500 in Glasgow.

I know that there is a £50 million fund, some of which is being used to repurpose housing, and that our cities tend not to have lots of available housing lying empty and waiting, but is there an opportunity to get homes back into use as well as accelerating new homes, particularly to address the crisis that we have around supporting Ukrainians, but also to address the longer-term housing shortage? I know people and families from Afghanistan who have been in temporary accommodation for years after they arrived in Edinburgh.

Can something be done to sharpen that and get things moving that we as a committee should be looking at? I invite Pat Togher to answer that first and I will then bring in Gavin Sharp, as we have talked about the issue before.

Lorraine, do you want to comment from a COSLA perspective on ensuring that that money is spent and that it delivers as soon as possible?

That is useful feedback. The Ukrainians whom I have met are so grateful to be here, and they do not like to raise difficult issues when they arrive—those issues only arise months afterwards.

A particular issue that people have mentioned is post-traumatic stress disorder, not just for adults but for children, because of what they have gone through. That gets parked because it is a fresh start, but there are families back home. It is useful to have that flagged for mental health and national health service support.

Is there anything more that could be done to link with general practitioners? We know that they are under pressure.

On one level, that is nuanced, but that is fundamental if someone has an allergy. Those things cannot be ignored.