3. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of disabled people on housing waiting lists. (S5T-00892)

The Scottish Government wants disabled people in Scotland to have access to homes that enable them to participate as full and equal citizens. Our disability delivery plan sets out a number of housing-related commitments that support that ambition, which include the requirement for each local authority to include a realistic target for the delivery of wheelchair-accessible housing in its local housing strategy and to report annually on its progress. We are also working with health and social care partnerships, disability organisations and the housing sector to ensure that those in need of adaptations to their home can access those services.

An investigation by

The Independent has revealed figures that were obtained from councils that indicate that almost 10,000 disabled people are on housing waiting lists in Scotland. Many of those people are stuck in unsuitable council houses, some of them five years—or longer—after requesting a move.

Does the minister agree that it is intolerable for any person to be trapped in a home that does not suit their needs and that it is time to take more dramatic action to serve people who need a move to more suitable accommodation?

As I said in my first answer, local authorities have a key role in planning for the housing needs of everyone in their community, including those who require wheelchair-accessible housing. People should have homes that suit their needs.

Work is under way to develop guidance for local authorities and other stakeholders on the need to set a realistic delivery target for wheelchair-accessible housing across all tenures, not just social housing. That will be incorporated into the revised local housing strategy guidance, which will be reviewed later on this year.

The latest available statistics show that 91 per cent of the housing that we are delivering in our housing programme is for varying needs. That is welcome, and I expect that standard to continue.

I met housing conveners at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities this morning and reiterated what I have said previously about subsidy levels for wheelchair-accessible housing. We will be flexible. Beyond that, I have asked them to take account of their waiting lists to see exactly what housing is required to reach the realistic targets that we all want to see delivered.

I welcome that answer, but does the minister acknowledge that people with disabilities who struggle to find suitable housing are not just people in wheelchairs? A whole range of people struggle to find suitable housing. We need to recognise that people with walking difficulties and people with breathing difficulties need ground-floor properties. Is it now time for a more specific strategy? Glasgow, for example, has adopted a model whereby if more than 20 units are being built, 10 per cent of them should be readily adaptable. The minister has made commitments to me in the past about thinking seriously about concrete proposals to ensure that we are not in the position that we are in now at the end of the parliamentary session, so does he think that that might be a way forward?

I do not want to be dictatorial to local authorities, because each local authority has to assess its own needs.

During the Christmas and new year holiday period, I spent a long time looking at councils’ strategic housing investment plans. Angus Council, for example, has worked out that its specialist housing requirement is for 16 per cent of the houses that it is building, but

I do not want to be prescriptive.

As I have said, I reiterated to housing conveners today that it is for them to assess exactly what is required. In some cases, that is easier for councils who have their own housing, because they can look at their waiting lists to assess what is required, but I also expect councils that do not have their own housing to co-operate with housing associations to see exactly what is required in their area.

As I have said before, the Government will be flexible on the question of subsidy because, like Ms McNeill, I want to see more housing for people with special needs, whether wheelchair-accessible housing or housing suitable for varying needs.

I say to members and to people outwith the chamber that we have a really good service in Scotland, Housing Options Scotland, which helps disabled people and older people and provides advice and advocacy on their housing needs. I urge all members to use that service if they deem it appropriate to do so.

The Presiding Officer:

I thank members and ministers for their contributions. I apologise to those members who did not get to ask a question.