The Scottish Government Housing and Regeneration Research team has shared an update on its research and learning programme around the new Ask and Act homelessness prevention duties, which are due to come into force in 2028.
The team is coordinating a programme to inform development of the legislation and guidance, and to try to understand how to best show evidence of the delivery and impact of Ask and Act once it is up and running.
This learning programme will aim to build on data and evidence produced by the Ask & Act pilots, the Upstream Homelessness Prevention Fund pilots, and engagement with wider stakeholders and people who have been through homelessness.
Processes and the frontline experience
Learning from the research will focus on whether processes are in place, how they feel to the staff navigating them, and where systems may unintentionally create delay, confusion or added pressure. The programme is not evaluating the pilots, but building on the learning from them to answer the questions:
- What does ‘success’ look like in relation to Ask & Act?
- How can and should Ask & Act work in practice?
- What helps or hinders good implementation of Ask & Act?
- What might Ask & Act mean for organisations’ time, staff and resources?
- What data will genuinely help to support effective learning, monitoring evaluation and improvement in the future?
The work is going to be taken forward by researchers from GC Insight, IPSOS and the Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot Watt University.
Researchers from these organisations are working collaboratively but also have responsibility for answering different questions. Participants might be invited to take part in the research in more than one way and/or be contacted by more than one of the organisations above to take part.
They will start to get in touch with individuals and organisations over the summer with further information and an invitation to take part in the research. This is expected to take place between August and December 2026.
Participation may involve taking part in a focus group, an interview or a workshop to discuss topics including experiences of taking part in the pilots, and to reflect on emerging guidance as it is drafted. The team will issue newsletter updates in coming months and will feed back feeding back project findings.