Government is accused of burying its head in the sand when it comes to homelessness

The Scottish Government has been accused of burying its head in the sand over the country's homelessness crisis, with calls for the First Minister to sack the Housing Minister.

This week, applications for homelessness reached a new record high, with over 10,000 children forced to live in emergency shelters.

John Swinney was challenged on this issue by Scottish Labour Party leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister's Questions on Thursday.

Mr Sarwar was asked if he accepted that Scotland was facing a housing crisis, as declared by the Holyrood Institute earlier this year. The First Minister said he did, adding that the Government was taking “action” to address the problem.

“I welcome the First Minister's recognition of the housing crisis, but the broader response shows that the Government is burying its head in the sand and ignoring the struggle of thousands of Scots facing homelessness at this very moment,” Sarwar said.

The Scottish Labour Party leader, who has been critical of the decline in affordable housing in Scotland, asked the First Minister if he would “change course” on housing policy. But Swinney compared his government's record with the last Labour government, which led Scotland from 1997 to 2007.

Swinney said the SNP government built an average of 7,750 affordable homes a year, compared with 5,448 when Labour was in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. He added that the Scottish government was “doing its job”.

“The First Minister wants to talk about the time when I was 16, not a time when 10,000 children are currently homeless in Scotland,” Mr Sarwar added.

Addressing Housing Minister Paul McLennan, Sarwar said: “For the Housing Minister to claim that we have a track record of tackling homelessness when it is at record levels is not only incompetent but disgraceful.”

“So Paul McLennan simply cannot continue.

“Will the First Minister realise he has a choice: accept further failures or get the housing shortage under control, sack this Housing Minister and change course?”

In his response, the First Minister criticised Mr Sarwar’s attack on his minister.

“I would just like to point out to Parliament that, as usual, when confronted with facts that refute his arguments, Anas Sarwar always plays the man and not the problem,” he said.

The conflict came as the Scottish Government announced it would provide an additional £100 million to build 2,800 mid-range homes. McLennan said “bold decisions” were needed to resolve the crisis.

When asked by the First Minister whether Mr Swinney had confidence in Mr McLennan, a spokeswoman for the First Minister replied: “Yes.”