SNP MSP Christina McKelvie has welcomed recent figures that show 4,941 affordable and social homes have been completed in South Lanarkshire since 2007 – with 344 affordable homes completed in 2022/23 alone.
Statistics show that almost 10,500 low-cost ownership, mid-market rent, and social rent homes were completed across Scotland in the financial year 2022/23; bringing the total since SNP affordable housing programmes began in 2007 to over 122,200.
Scotland continues to lead the UK in affordable home provision. Between 2007/08 and 2021/22, the annual average supply of affordable housing per head of population in Scotland has been 13.9 homes per 10,000 population, higher than England (9.7 homes per 10,000 population), Wales (8.0), and Northern Ireland (12.7). The 10,458 affordable homes completed in Scotland in 2022/23 equates to a rate of 19.1 homes delivered per 10,000 population.
The SNP Scottish Government has also announced a further boost of £60 million to reduce the number of households living in temporary accommodation, supporting a national acquisition plan to increase the supply of social and affordable housing.
Welcoming the new figures, SNP MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Christina McKelvie said:
“Thanks to action from this SNP Government there is more affordable and social housing across Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. Everyone deserves warm, safe, and affordable accommodation to call home – which is why this Affordable Housing Supply Programme really matters.
“Just last year, we saw 344 high-quality affordable and social homes built South Lanarkshire, bringing the total of affordable home completion figure in the area to 4,941 since 2007. This is supported by the Scottish Government’s five-year, £3.2 billion fund to accelerate affordable home provision, with the aim of delivering a further 110,000 affordable homes across Scotland by 2032.
“As the Tory cost of living crisis puts pressure on Scottish households, and Labour offer nothing but regressive U-turns, the SNP is showing what progressive government looks like, getting on with the day job and building a new Scotland – including right here in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.”
Christina McKelvie SNP MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse has said it is now “clearer than ever” that independence is the only way to secure economic prosperity for Scotland - following a damning new report from the Work and Pensions committee which highlighted the damage Brexit is having on the UK's labour market.
The report, published on Tuesday 19th July, stated that the UK's labour market is facing high rates of economic inactivity, "driven up as a result of the pandemic and the ending of freedom of movement".
In addition, in line with the latest ONS figures, the report also found that human health and social care sectors are experiencing the highest number of vacancies, which has "been further compounded by the end of freedom of movement".
Commenting Christina said:
"This report from the Work and Pensions committee hammers home the dire impact Westminster's Brexit obsession is having on Scotland’s economy, our NHS and our social care services.
"And yet - despite the increasing mountain of evidence and more than half of voters across these islands saying they would vote to rejoin the EU - both the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour remain committed to this destructive decision.
"Every single Council area in Scotland voted against Brexit. We chose to remain part of the European Union and world's largest single market - but we were dragged out against our will.
"However, for as long as both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer deny the people of Scotland their democratic right to choose, the stronger the democratic case for Scottish independence will become.
"At the next election, voters can be in no doubt that only the SNP are offering hope of a better future through independence - which offers a return to the European Union and the delivery of economic prosperity for the people of Scotland."
SNP MSP Christina McKelvie has welcomed new measures from the Scottish Government to prevent litter and flytipping across Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse and support Scotland’s circular and zero waste economy.
The new measures, which include more than doubling fines for flytipping to £500, have been brought in under a six-year National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, which sets out how national and local government, business, third sector, communities and individuals can work together to drive behaviour change, improve infrastructure and strengthen enforcement.
Other key measures include the introduction of new powers to impose a fine on the registered keeper of a vehicle from which a littering offence is committed and a new national online litter hub to provide information, advice and support to community groups and other relevant local organisations on tackling litter and littering behaviour.
Commenting, Christina said:
“This SNP Government is working hard to support Scotland's transition to a zero waste and circular economy by tidying up Scotland’s streets and neighbourhoods; these strict new measures will help to keep communities across Scotland clean and safe.
“The communities in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse are a wonderful place to live and to take pride in. Too often however our neighbourhoods are besmirched by the selfish actions of a few, through reckless flytipping and littering, which impacts on everyone who lives here.
“More than doubling the fines for fly tipping to £500 will help incentivise those selfishly flytipping to think harder before they dump rubbish onto our streets.”
