Scottish government scraps standalone housing secretary post in cabinet reshuffle

The Scottish government has scrapped the standalone housing secretary role in its post-election cabinet appointments.

First minister John Swinney has appointed Shirley-Anne Somerville to the shared portfolio of social justice and housing. She has served as social justice cabinet secretary since 2023.

Meanwhile, former housing secretary Màiri McAllan has become cabinet secretary for education, culture and Gaelic.

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland said it was “deeply disappointed” by the move.

“Despite sector-wide agreement that housing should remain a cabinet secretary position - an opinion that had cross-party support during the election campaign - we are deeply disappointed by the government’s decision to combine housing with social justice in a shared portfolio,” said the organisation’s national director, Gillian McLees.

Crisis Scotland said merging the briefs “creates a real opportunity to take a more joined-up and strategic approach to tackling poverty and homelessness.”

Maeve McGoldrick, the charity’s head of policy and communications, said: “Stronger alignment between housing supply, homelessness prevention and wider family support can help ensure that housing stability sits at the heart of efforts to support people and communities across Scotland.”