FIFE MSP Alex Rowley wants the Scottish Government to wind the clock back 75 years and bring forward detailed plans to tackle a national "housing crisis".

He said the waiting lists for people wanting a roof over their head in some parts of West Fife were "horrendous" and highlighted problems with overcrowding and a shortage of suitable homes.

Mr Rowley, Labour MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “The most heartbreaking part of my job is the inability to help people with housing needs and it is unacceptable that so many children have so little housing security.

"After the war in 1945, the then Attlee government embarked on a national housing programme of council housing across the country and that is what I am fighting for now."

In the Scottish Parliament, he directed his questions to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The MSP asked: "In terms of building back from COVID, will the Government bring forward more detailed plans for a national housebuilding programme to once and for all tackle Scotland’s housing crisis, and in the process will create thousands of apprenticeships and tens of thousands of jobs in Scotland?"

Ms Sturgeon responded: “We have delivered almost 100,000 affordable homes since this government took office.

"We always see a housing programme as being first and foremost about delivering homes for people to live in but Alex Rowley is right that it is also a good way of generating economic activity and jobs."

Speaking to the Press, Mr Rowley said: “Housing, or the lack of housing, is still the biggest caseload I have and in the Cowdenbeath area the waiting lists are horrendous, both in terms of people needing a roof over their head but also for overcrowding and unsuitable housing.

"Fife Council tell people to widen the areas they are willing to go but the truth is every area has massive housing shortages and the private rented sector is expensive and beyond many families' affordability."

He said the economic recovery from COVID must include sustainable jobs and added that a national housing building programme would deliver apprenticeships and jobs for decades to come.