Ending homelessness and poverty in Scotland requires Whole Family and Early Action Support

Tackling child poverty is the top priority for the current Scottish First Minister (John Swinney), and last week he announced further investment in his Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.  

The Fund forms a fundamental part of the latest Child Poverty Delivery Plan, implementing the Scottish Government’s ambitious targets in the 2017 Child Poverty (Scotland) Act, with £50 million allocated this coming year alone to drive more effective and integrated wrap-around support for families.  

This week also saw the publication of the Scottish Government’s Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2022-25 report which identified that 17% of the population (940,000 people) are living in relative poverty. On top of this, children are more likely to live in relative poverty. 21% of children are in relative poverty after housing costs, compared to 13% of pensioners and 18% of working-age adults.  

Homelessness is perhaps the ultimate outcome of poverty.

While very often driven by poverty, homelessness and housing instability can often lead to much wider problems, including physical and mental ill health, relationship pressures, reduced capacity to improve incomes through employment, children’s ability to thrive at school and so on. Reducing poverty for a family is much more difficult when they don’t have a secure home. 

On the other hand, centring in on a stable and suitable home is the ultimate place-based approach, where support can be effectively wrapped around the household, placing them at the very centre of service delivery and support. Early action is vital as part of the Whole Family approach so that families have that most fundamental of needs secured, a safe and stable place to live.  

The new duties in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 for public services to “ask and act” on any housing concerns support just this agenda. And in a time of tight public finances, joining up agendas, acting early and integrating services to reduce duplication makes absolute sense. 

That is why Crisis believe that this should be called the Whole Family and Early Action Support approach. 

The First Minister stated that:

“My government is focused on building a support system that is seamless and tailored, that responds flexibly and quickly to people’s needs – and offers the right support at the right time.” 

Some parts of this agenda that could be transformative include the emphasis on joining up public services to wrap around families, and £2 million to support data sharing to help families and make public services more effective.  

It is not just families who need such effective system reform.  

The majority of households who are homeless are not families but single people.   

Scotland historically abolished the legal “priority need” divide in homelessness help between families and single people in a ground breaking moment in 2012. They must not get left behind amidst of the focus on families. Early action, stable housing and wrap-around public services are just as important for these members of society. 

Crisis welcomes the further £9 million investment in Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) to support families struggling with rent – including £4 million allocated in the Scottish budget for preventing homelessness. But as discretionary payments that need to be applied for repeatedly, they do not offer early intervention or a sustainable solution for families. Again, it does not help those without children. And nor does it offer the transformative vision that is required to truly shift to a prevention first approach. 

Losing sight of the centrality of home and the importance of early action is all too easy in the midst of competing and urgent priorities. But without early interventions to sustain a home, all other support becomes much more challenging to provide. Housing stability must not just be a bolt-on but must be embedded within the Whole Family and Early Action Support agenda.