POLICY FRAMEWORK
Scotland

BACKGROUND

In 2007-08, 41,123 households were accepted by their local authority as homeless or potentially homeless, and 31,464 of those households were assessed as in priority need. The number of households accepted as homeless or potentially homeless has increased by 26.5% since 1997-98 (see Scotland: Trends over Time).

KEY POLICIES

The national policy framework for Scotland is currently driven by the final report of the Homelessness Task Force, Homelessness: an action plan for prevention and effective response (2002), which set out the agenda for tackling homelessness in Scotland until 2012.  It made 59 recommendations, which were all subsequently endorsed by the Scottish Parliament.

The 2003 Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act took forward those recommendations that related specifically to homelessness. The most important change it made was in abolishing the distinction between those in 'priority need' and not 'not in priority need' - so that  all homeless households (and not just those 'in priority need') will be entitled to permanent housing. Full abolition is due in 2012, but in the meantime those 'not in priority need' have been given the entitlement to temporary accommodation as a minimum.

A Homelessness Monitoring Group was also set up to implement the recommendations made in the report.

The final report of the Homelessness Task Force, Homelessness: an action plan for prevention and effective response, set out the wide variety of circumstances in which homeless people can find themselves, in particular highlighting:

• Roofless, houseless households in unsuitable accommodation (e.g. hostel, b&b) because they have nowhere else to stay;

• Those in institutions because they have nowhere else to stay;

• Those in insecure accommodation,i.e., tenants likely to be evicted, persons with no legal right (squatters or young people asked to leave the family home, persons with only short term permission to stay, etc.); and

• Those sharing involuntarily in unreasonable circumstances.

The report concluded that housing is central to solving homelessness, but only when the wider causes of homelessness are also addressed.  A major theme running through it was, therefore, the need to deal with the complex needs individuals if the housing solutions are to be sustainable.  The report's ethos can be summarised as follows:

• The recognition of the need for the supply of affordable housing;

• The need for the report's recommendations to be matched by resources;

• The crucial role of support of various kinds;

• Cross-departmental working;

• The empowerment of people experiencing homelessness.

The Homelessness Monitoring Group

The Homelessness Monitoring Group consists of members of the Scottish Government, as well as other representatives of the homelessness sector, for example, Shelter Scotland and the Scottish Council for Single Homelessness.

Its primary function is to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Homelessness Task Force until 2012. To this end, the Homelessness Monitoring Group produces an annual report, in which each recommendation is assessed by its status (red, amber or green), and further actions required to carry out the recommendation are identified (see Helping homeless people - 3rd report April 2006, Appendix B). 

The Group's most recent annual report identified the use of temporary accommodation as the most problematic of all the recommendations, because of the fact that the number of households in temporary accommodation have doubled between 2002 and 2006, And according to the Scottish Government, the use of of temporary accommodation is a measure of local authorities' capacity to meet their new obligations.  While a rise in the numbers in temporary accommodation may not be unexpected in the early years of the new approach, sustained higher levels would call into question how realistic the eventual right to permanent accommodation actually is.

The Social Justice Strategy

Social inclusion: opening the door to a better Scotland (1999), sets out a vision for a more inclusive Scotland, includes a discussion about homelessness and, in particular, the need for local homelessness prevention strategies. In order to measure progress on inclusion in areas of concern, a series of milestones were introduced in relation to homelessness:

• To reduce the number of households with children (particularly families with children), living in temporary accommodation;

• To ensure that all young people leaving care have achieved at least English and Maths Standard Grade and have access to appropriate housing options; and 

• To increase the quality and availability of homes in the most disadvantaged communities. 

In September 2004, the social inclusion strategy was re-focused into a smaller set of objectives as described in Closing the opportunity gap.  One of these targets was to improve employability (including among homeless people). 

Page last modified on 23/04/2008 at 14:59