Housing crisis in West Lothian as half of council's targets are missed

The opposition SNP branded the Labour-led administration “unfit to run the service” and said the failed targets were bringing “misery and despair”.

In the last three months of 2022 the council failed to meet its targets on the percentage of homeless applications processed within 28 days – 37 per cent when the target is 80 per cent – as well as the length of time it takes to re-let properties and the number of new build properties completed.

It also fell down on repairs and on customer complaints.

Labour councillors defended their running of the service and said they had ‘no control’ over many of the issues causing the problems.

The grim update was delivered by housing officer Kirsty Weir to a recent meeting of the Housing Services Policy development and Scrutiny Panel (PDSP).

SNP Depute group leader Robert De Bold told the meeting: “This performance report makes for disappointing reading. We have six metrics outwith acceptable standards. There are only ten. Five of these are categorised as red.

“It would appear this administration can’t build houses, can’t access people when they are homeless, can’t re-let houses when they become available. We are then unsurprisingly inundated with complaints.

“Frankly this administration is unfit to run this service and blind to the fact that its mismanagement causes real misery and despair.”

Labour councillors rounded on Councillor De Bold. Committee Chair George Paul attacked the SNP’s record of building homes during its administration up to 2012. This was disputed by Councillor De Bold who produced figures he’d obtained from a Freedom of Information request

Councillor Andrew McGuire paid tribute to the hard work of housing department staff in challenging circumstances.

He told the meeting: “Some of the comments Councillor De Bold made seem to ignore the fact that there’s many external factors which we have absolutely no control over, such as who presents as homeless. We have very little control over the building sector and very little control over supply chains and building services which causes a lot of the issues here.

“I accept that housing is highly pressured but we are not the only local authority which faces pressures on our services.

“I think Councillor De Bold would do well to remember that, and also I’d encourage him to lobby his colleagues in the Scottish Parliament for greater funding for some of the programmes we have which might ease some of the homeless pressures we have.”

His comments were echoed by deputy council leader, Labour’s Kirsteen Sullivan who reminded the meeting that Holyrood policies had exacerbated problems.

She said: “I think it’s important that we don’t forget about the external factors at play here, particularly the significant underfunding of the Rapid Rehousing Transition Programme which is there to address homelessness and ensure that we are doing all we can to move people into suitable housing.”