Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at 2:30 pm on 2 October 2025.
Alex Rowley
Labour
2:30,
2 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the key barriers are to tackling Scotland’s housing emergency. (S6O-05023)
Màiri McAllan
Scottish National Party
The conditions that have led to Scotland’s housing emergency reflect long-standing, complex and interconnected challenges. I have often characterised recent years as having been a perfect storm of failing economic conditions across the United Kingdom, driven not least by Brexit and inflationary pressures, coupled with the extraordinary pressures that have been bearing down on households over recent years. My colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice has alluded to some of that this morning.
That has created a perfect storm of strain, but the combination of our housing emergency action plan, which was set out on 2 September, and the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which was passed on 30 September, responds to those challenges.
Alex Rowley
Labour
Even if we were able to tackle the economic and financial challenges—and I believe that we need to look at every option to do so—there would still be major housing issues.
I have read the Government’s housing emergency action plan and, believe me, I want it to deliver. I welcome the fact that it talks about a whole-system approach. Does the Cabinet secretary recognise, however, that a whole-system approach means that we need to address the major challenges in planning, which include the underresourcing and understaffing of planning services?
At the same time, we must address the skills shortages in the construction sector. Has the cabinet secretary looked at the document that Shelter Scotland published today on delivering an end to Scotland’s housing crisis? It talks about the establishment of a new national housing and land agency that would centrally drive housing programmes in Scotland—
Annabelle Ewing
Scottish National Party
Cabinet secretary.
Alex Rowley
Labour
—while working with local authorities at the local level.
Màiri McAllan
Scottish National Party
I thank Alex Rowley for his question and for taking the time to read the emergency plan, which I deliberately kept short, sharp and action focused so that it was readily accessible. I thank him also for his party’s support for the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which the Conservatives could not bring themselves to support, even though it is life-changing for people who face homelessness.
Mr Rowley is right. It is up to all of us—Government, Parliament and industry—to create the right conditions for growth and for confidence in an all-tenure approach to housing in Scotland. Through our plan, we provide multiannual funding certainty, coupled with increased funding and a growth target of 10 per cent per year. That is underpinned by action in planning to make it more efficient and to drive proportionality. I want to put on the record in particular the Scottish Government’s creation of the planning hub, which is able to provide surge support to authorities, and our investment in recruiting more planners.
Sharon Dowey
Conservative
The Cabinet secretary and I are both aware of a case where a developer is ready to put shovels in the ground, yet delays persist because paperwork has not been signed off. I have raised this in the chamber and I have written letters, while the developer, who, for nearly two months, has been ready to start on site, has also reached out, but with no conclusion. If this situation continues, investors will simply take their projects elsewhere. The Scottish Government might say that it is serious about house building, but can the cabinet secretary honestly say that that is matched by any action?
Màiri McAllan
Scottish National Party
As I have set out in response to a letter that Sharon Dowey wrote to me, I am not able to comment on the specifics of any planning application. Planning is a semi-judicial process and it is not for ministers to get involved with.
On the general point about proportionality and speed and making sure that planning facilitates development and does not hinder it, that is very much something that I am aware of. I have mentioned the planning hub and recruitment. Our action plan speaks to actions, too. I draw Ms Dowey’s attention to the work that the planning Minister and I have been doing in respect of stalled sites. We are actively brokering relations between developers, planners and the Government to try to unlock those sites that have permission but are not moving forward.
Annabelle Ewing
Scottish National Party
I can squeeze in question 8 if I have succinct questions and answers to match.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.
With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.
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.
