– in the Scottish Parliament at on 26 November 2014.
Hanzala Malik
Labour
6. To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation. (S4O-03746)
Margaret Burgess
Scottish National Party
The Scottish Government is reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation by increasing housing supply and by preventing homelessness wherever possible through the development of housing options.
The latest statistics indicate that, in the first quarter of 2014-15, there was a 2 per cent decrease in the number of households in temporary accommodation from the previous year and—crucially—a 10 per cent decrease in the number of households with children in temporary accommodation. Those falls sit alongside wider falls in homelessness more generally in Scotland in recent years.
Hanzala Malik
Labour
I thank the Minister for her response, but those households are looking for results and not figures. There are still approximately 10,000 households living in temporary accommodation. What is the Government doing to build more social rented housing stock to match the needs of households by providing permanent accommodation so that households are not stuck in temporary accommodation for long periods?
The budget for affordable housing has been cut and is now 25 per cent lower than it was in 2008-09. Will that reduction be realigned, or is the Government satisfied with allowing people to continue to suffer in the way that they are suffering?
Margaret Burgess
Scottish National Party
First, although I accept that there are many families in temporary accommodation, the vast Majority of temporary accommodation is good quality, well managed local authority accommodation. We have to look at the issue in the round.
With regard to the housing supply, we have not increased the budget throughout the year, but we recently announced a further £200 million to increase the affordable housing budget for the coming year. We are still building more houses for social rent than any other Administration since devolution built. We will continue to meet our targets on both social housing and affordable housing.
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Question 7, in the name of Annabelle Ewing, has been withdrawn due to her ministerial appointment.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
