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I will come back to Graham Simpson on that point. On his other point about the cladding remediation, the purpose of the single open call is to quicken that pace. I have met residents from across Scotland, and one of the key questions that they have asked me is, “Can we just get on with it as soon as possible?” The single open call allows us to do that. We have also had that feedback about buildings from residents associations and factors.

On the member’s point about when work will happen, one of the key points is that we are trying to accelerate that. We will be working as quickly as possible around the single open call. If people come back to us, we will respond to them as quickly as we possibly can. The whole point of working with registered social landlords and social housing providers is to increase the breadth of that. Every single building assessment and remediation will be different, as the member well knows. The purpose of my statement today is to accelerate the pace and the breadth of that.

In my responses, I have highlighted that, as well as the work that has gone on since the fire. One of the main aims of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 concerns health and safety in building. As I have mentioned, the response to the Grenfell tower inquiry has strengthened building standards, made regulations more effective and delivered safer buildings. In addition, changes to the fire safety standards of buildings have been made by requiring the use of non-combustible cladding, improving escape provision and introducing automatic fire suppression. A new building standards compliance plan approach is being developed under the direction of the building standards futures board and is at the early adopter stage. To answer a point that Richard Leonard, I think, made about support for local authority verifiers to fulfil their role on delivery, building warrant fees are currently being increased through a three-year model.

Our planning system has a statutory structure that ensures that planning decisions are made following a thorough assessment of the development plan and all material considerations.

Where permitted development rights may also be involved—so removing the need for planning applications for specified development—those rights are carefully created to ensure that the potential impacts are properly assessed.

To come back to the member’s point, we have undertaken considerable work since the fire. We will continue to do so, and we will continue to work on the recommendations of the inquiry.

On the funding for that, there has been an increase in Government spending this year, with funding for local authorities increasing by a considerable amount. It is up to local authorities to decide where they spend their money. Our building department colleagues have been discussing the matter with them on a regular basis, and we set up the Scottish building standards hub to listen to what they are saying on that point.

On Mr Leonard’s point about evacuation, we have been working very closely with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on person-centred risk assessment, as I mentioned in my statement. One of the key things is communication with residents on that point. The SFRS also carries out operational quality assurance visits to every high-rise domestic building in Scotland to check features such as fire doors, lifts and stairs. We continue to work with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on the point that Mr Leonard mentions.

I come back to a particular point that I have made a few times. If I am expected to highlight which buildings will be completed without some of those buildings having gone through the single building assessment process and without a remediation contract having come out, that is a bit unfair.

We will continue to work on quickening the pace, which I am confident that we will do.

On funding, I note that more than £50 million is being set aside. We publish a quarterly review of how much is spent.

To come and ask me what buildings will be remediated by a certain point in a certain year is unfair. I am happy to keep Mr Kerr updated on that particular point. [Interruption.]

I am coming back to the point that Mr Kerr mentioned. A single building assessment process takes a different period of time depending on where the building is. The remediation contract and the work that is required also take a different period of time. I am happy to keep Mr Kerr up to date with regard to the buildings that are remediated.

I have made the statement on what we are currently going through in relation to the single building assessment process. As I said, the whole purpose of the statement today is to quicken up the pace and widen the breadth of work that we are undertaking.

As Mr Gulhane knows, we have been engaging in a particular discussion around about his constituents. He knows that individual cases are different in terms of single building assessments and the remediation work that is carried out. I will continue to engage with Mr Gulhane on that.

The point of making today’s statement is, as I said, to try to quicken the pace, which I think we will do through the single open call process and through the remediation part.

We have taken action on the single building assessment and also through the cladding act, which has pushed us towards that. I will continue to engage with Mr Gulhane on that particular point.

I cannot give specifics on where the single building assessment is at, what is highlighted and the remediation work that is carried out. However, I give Mr Gulhane the assurance that I will continue to engage with him and his constituents on that particular issue.

On that particular point, during the first half of this session of Parliament, we made a record sum of funding—£120 million—available to Fife Council. This year, Fife Council’s budget will increase from £26.2 million to £30.1 million, and those additional funds, which are the council’s share of the national £40 million fund, are intended for the acquisition of properties. The purpose of acquiring properties and of the work that we are doing with Fife Council in relation to voids is to bring properties into circulation as soon as possible.

The permanent secretary and the director of local government and housing met with the chief executive of Fife Council on 27 November 2024 to discuss the housing emergency, and I will meet with Councillor Hamilton in due course. In addition, Scottish Government officials meet with Fife Council officials regularly on a range of housing-related matters, including the housing emergency response.

I am aware of the case and we are engaging with Fife Council on the issue. The standard of temporary accommodation is important, which is why the Scottish Government published the temporary accommodation standards framework in 2023, to ensure that accommodation is of a high standard and that households receive the support services that meet their needs. Reducing the number of households—particularly households with children—in temporary accommodation and the time that they spend in it is a top priority for this Government.

Increasing housing supply is key to reducing homelessness, and we will continue to work with partners to deliver more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent. Acquiring larger properties that are suitable for families will help to reduce the number of households—including families with children—that are in temporary accommodation. Scottish Government funding of £42 million in 2024-25 will help to increase the supply of social housing of the right type and size where it is needed most.

The report that was published earlier this month highlighted the devastating impact that living in poor-quality temporary accommodation can have on children’s lives. We have heard examples of that today, and I take addressing that as one of my main objectives as housing minister.

In response to the research findings, Shelter Scotland stated that we—all of us—

“have a duty to act”

on what we have heard. The Government is already acting. I talked about the £768 million investment in acquisitions and voids funding, which has enabled reductions in Edinburgh, as I think Foysol Choudhury mentioned, and in four other areas that are under the most sustained pressure.

However, we all need to act on the issue together. One key thing that was in the Crisis report was the need for the UK Government to act on local housing allowance and tackling poverty. Local housing allowance is being frozen again, and the Crisis report mentioned that that has the biggest influence in pushing people into homelessness. We need the Labour Government to act on that and, again, I ask colleagues from the Labour Party to engage with that. The Tories had that policy for a number of years and knew the impact of it, so they have to take responsibility on that point. That report mentioned that the policy on local housing allowance pushed people into homelessness, which the Tories have to acknowledge.

Our ambition—all members’ ambition—is for every household to have a settled home, and we are firmly committed to reducing the number of households that are in temporary accommodation.

I will touch on the point that Willie Rennie made about voids and acquisitions. In engaging with the housing to 2040 group, we have worked with local authorities on targeting homes that need to be purchased for families with large numbers of children. That is a targeted focus, and a reduction in temporary accommodation has started in 20 local authorities. That is key. I have talked about the £200 million that is increasing housing supply, and I will come on to Meghan Gallacher’s point about investment in a second.

We are all, rightly, concerned to hear of the experiences that children described in the research of living in conditions that breached the unsuitable accommodation order. Of course we are—everybody is. The action that the Scottish Government is taking now is intended to move us out of the housing emergency, but that will take time and requires a sustained and joint effort from all parties. I will touch on that in a second.

As was mentioned, local authorities—of all colours—are responsible for that, too. They are all working extremely hard to increase the supply of social, affordable housing and deliver services for people who experience homelessness. We have been working, and will continue to work, in partnership with local government. We will not support the Tory amendment, for the very reason that we have been working very closely with local authorities on their housing emergency action plans. We think that it is better to work with local authorities on their own local housing emergencies rather than the national picture. We have seen the effect of that, through a reduction of about 40 per cent in Edinburgh, for example.

Yes, if I have time.