Scottish Government's u-turn on housing cuts is a welcome move

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The Scottish Government decision in February this year to slash £196m from its affordable housing budget was a deeply damaging move.

At a time when the private rental market was overheating, and interest rate hikes were hammering people with mortgages, it sent completely the wrong message.

There remains a desperate shortage of affordable housing across the country, particularly in our biggest cities. The number of Scots declaring themselves homeless has increased to the point that more than 10,000 children are stuck living in temporary accommodation.

The Scottish Government should have been leading the way by handing local authorities and housing associations increased funding to build more affordable housing.

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Instead it spent six months tying itself in knots by offering more and more convoluted explanations whenever it was called out on the subject.

The decision to reverse the cut to the housing budget is a welcome move, which the Record has called on from the start. John Swinney promised to do things differently as First Minister since he took the job earlier this year.

This is a step in a right direction. But let’s not pretend it will solve the country’s housing emergency overnight. Charities and anti-poverty campaigners will still be out helping the many Scots who tonight have no home of their own to sleep in.

Thousands of tenants will still be worried how they can pay their rent and afford a modest celebration this Christmas. More affordable housing means years of sustained investment. The real hard work to solve the country’s housing emergency begins now.

We need a plan to save our NHS

Audit Scotland’s damning report on Scotland’s NHS this week concluded services would have to be withdrawn to satisfy the growing demand for healthcare elsewhere.

The report took direct aim at the Scottish Government for having no clear plan to address the crisis. It’s alarming assessment has been backed up by Dr Iain Kennedy of the British Medical Association in Scotland.

Dr Kennedy actually went further and warned he expects “thing to get much worse” than they are at the moment. With growing waiting lists and frontline workers under increasing pressure, there seems to be a permanent sense of crisis around our NHS.

For the good of everyone in Scotland this cannot go on. Dr Kennedy and other have called for “urgent action” and reform. The call must be heeded. Health Secretary Neil Grey must come up with a plan to give Scots hope their NHS can be fit for purpose.

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