A sign near a homeless person and their dog on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh
UK GOVERNMENT boosts to housing spending must be matched north of the border to tackle the housing emergency, say Shelter Scotland.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced on Wednesday that £39 billion would be spent on housing over the next decade and the charity have called on ministers to commit any extra cash flowing to Holyrood as a result to be funnelled into meet the crisis which had left a record 10,360 children in temporary accommodation.
Shelter Scotland’s Alison Watson said: “The UK government has finally recognised the importance of social housing and placed it at the heart of the Chancellor’s plans.
“If the First Minister is serious about tackling the housing emergency and ending child poverty, housing must be a priority.
“We demand that any consequentials arising from this investment in housing in England are passed directly to Scotland’s affordable housing supply programme.
“We know that building more social homes is the only way to tackle the housing emergency.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “The full implications of the UK spending review, which outlined spending on housing in the next 10 years, are still being considered.”
It’s hard to understand how minor divisions can come to dominate the process of building a challenge to the rule of the rich when the desperate need for a vehicle to fight poverty and despair is so abundantly clear, writes MATT KERR
