Housing to 2040 Strategic Board minutes: August 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Paul McLennan, MSP and Minister for Housing (Co-Chair)
• Councillor Maureen Chalmers, COSLA Spokesperson for Community Wellbeing (Co-Chair)
• Shirley-Anne Somerville, MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (invited guest)
• Michael Cameron, Chief Executive, Scottish Housing Regulator
• Sally Thomas, Chief Executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
• John Mills, Co-Chair, ALACHO
• Jane Wood, Chief Executive, Homes for Scotland
• Callum Chomczuk, National Director (Scotland), Chartered Institute of Housing
• John Blackwood, Chief Executive, Scottish Association of Landlords
• Mike Callaghan, Policy Manager, COSLA
• Sean Neill, Director Local Government, Housing and Planning, Scottish Government
• Catriona MacKean, Deputy Director Better Homes, Scottish Government
• Lauren McNamara, Deputy Director More Homes, Scottish Government
• Fiona Simpson, Chief Planner, Scottish Government
• Scottish Government Official, Head of Housing Strategy and Delivery Unit, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome and opening remarks

Mr McLennan (Co-Chair) welcomed members to this special session of the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board focused on the housing emergency and thanked the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice for attending.

He confirmed that the meeting would be focused on the housing emergency response, including reviewing progress on the actions set out in the Ministerial statement of 20 June and on agreeing a collective way forward on a number of asks made by the sector under the banner of the housing emergency coalition.

Councillor Chalmers (Co-Chair) noted the importance of this discussion and thanked members for making themselves available.

The Cabinet Secretary reflected on the challenging conditions facing the housing system and emphasised the need for collective agreement and prioritisation.

Housing to 2040 coalition action plan proposals

The board discussed the proposals contained within the housing emergency coalition paper and the Scottish Government's response to those.

The Cabinet Secretary noted that, given the urgency of the issue, the purpose of this meeting is to assess and agree what actions should be taken and then to move quickly to deliver them. Members confirmed that the proposals set out in the coalition’s paper reflected their priorities.

Members noted that the paper to support this item was useful as it set out how and where Government and the sector can agree collectively on priority activity, and gives a framing for taking forward those actions. The board agreed that the focus of work should be on supply, with effort given to those interventions with the greatest potential to make a substantive difference and recognition that some actions will be best delivered locally. Members suggested an emergency response timeframe of between now and 2026.

The board agreed that the proposals to which the Scottish Government had indicated agreement (i.e. those in categories A and B in paper 1) would now be included in the overall response to the housing emergency. A small number of the coalition proposals require further discussion to ensure there is clarity on purpose and intended outcomes and officials will take this forward as needed with stakeholders (category D asks in paper 1).

Members noted the importance of monitoring of progress and the availability of data to determine the impact the response is having.

The Cabinet Secretary emphasised the importance of moving to delivery and requested that officials consider streamlining the number of meetings and groups to discuss housing to ensure we are all making most productive use of time. She also noted the importance of collaboration, requesting that the sector work together now priorities have been identified.

Sean Neill confirmed that officials will work with the outcome of this discussion to develop a confirmed housing emergency response, engaging with members to confirm details, and then return to the board in early October to seek agreement. Information on the range of meetings and groups currently in place will also be provided for the board’s consideration. Catriona MacKean proposed that links be made to the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group, including with regards to work on rough sleeping and homelessness prevention, to ensure those dimensions of the emergency are also covered.

Update on SG actions to respond to the housing emergency

Members agreed that the actions already set out in the Minister’s statement of 20 June and summarised in the paper for this item should be drawn together with the actions agreed from the coalition’s paper into a single plan.

The Cabinet Secretary encouraged the group to consider flexibility in our response – all parties need to work differently to respond to the housing emergency.

Members noted the need to “make room” for the emergency response and that there may need to be some short term compromises on other ambitions to do this. Members also noted that urgent action is needed and so, where actions have a longer timeframe, we must always look for what can be done in shorter time.

The discussion ended with an agreement to work together to confirm the contents of the response and support delivery at local and national level. The board agreed to reconvene in early October to sign off on a confirmed plan and agree the board’s role in overseeing joint delivery.

Actions: 

• officials to combine the actions set out in paper 2 and category A and B actions from paper 1 into a housing emergency workplan
• officials to engage with board members and other relevant stakeholders to explore further category D actions from paper 1 and consider whether these ought to be brough into the workplan
• officials to gather information on the range of groups and meetings
• officials to consider how to make links to the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group
• this material will be brought back to the board for consideration and agreement in early October (meeting arrangements tbc).