Few things sum up the current state of inequality across Scotland more than the housing crisis. Growing numbers of working people cannot afford somewhere to live.
And a record number of families, including more than 10,000 children, are stuck in temporary accommodation. This means kids stuck in B&Bs or hotels paid for by councils.
In Edinburgh, families are waiting more than 500 days on average before being offered somewhere to live.
This is not a surprise development. Local authorities, charities, and the Scottish Government all recognise the issue. The problem is trying to fix it.
There is no single cause for the crisis. But one of the biggest reasons is the severe lack of new social housing built.
And the drop in new builds being completed has not been helped by the Scottish Government’s decision to slash almost £200million from its affordable housing budget.
Anti-poverty campaigners warned at the time it was a catastrophic mistake and they’ve sadly been proven right. SNP ministers cling to the fact that they ended right-to-buy and previously had a good record on building social housing.
But they are now at risk of being left behind by a Labour Government at Westminster which seems determined to grow the housing supply across England.
The Scottish Government has offered little apart from warm words. The country needs more homes. SNP ministers must do everything in their power to get them built.
The number of kids without a home of their own is a national disgrace.
Cancer won’t wait
MORE than 1000 Scots cancer patients have waited longer than they should for treatment in the last three months – and that is never acceptable.
Each patient who is referred to a specialist with a suspicion of having cancer hears a clock ticking in their head. They know if they do have the disease, early treatment is essential to a good outcome.
There is a target time of 62 days from suspicion of cancer to treatment beginning and this is not a goal plucked out of thin air – it is the time chosen by experts to give patients a fighting chance.
To keep even one patient waiting longer than this is unacceptable. To have more than 1000 in the last three months is a downright scandal.
Health Secretary Neil Gray is right to say that more needs to be done but he needs to be the man to make it happen and he needs to make it happen now.
Cancer won’t wait until he gets his house in order.
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