Scotland’s Housing First Conference takes place on Thursday 31 March in person once again and highlights conditions needed across health, housing, justice and social care to ensure that Housing First is successful as it scales up in most Scottish council areas.
Firmly established as national policy in 2018, by the conference 27 Scottish council areas will have embedded Housing First locally, providing ordinary, settled housing as a first response to redress disadvantage and for people whose homelessness is made harder by experiences such as trauma, mental ill-health or addiction.
This year’s conference will ask the question, ‘If Housing First is ‘here to stay’ in Scotland, how can health and social care step up to this challenge – as joint planners, commissioners and service providers?’
According to pivotal studies, better coordination and case management is needed to reduce a siloed approach and to respond more effectively to severe and multiple disadvantage in Scotland. The Hard Edges Scotland study has been influential in evidencing the scale and overlapping nature of disadvantage in Scotland and in understanding the impact on people when services and sectors operate side-by-side, in silos – while often interacting with the same people.
Callum Chomczuk, National Director of Chartered Institute of Housing said:
“We all need a home, and yet we have historically put-up barriers to prevent helping those most in need from accessing secure, stable accommodation. Housing First, as a core component of our approach to Rapid Rehousing, is part of the solution. This service, which literally puts housing first, gives people a secure, stable home and builds care and support services around that person’s needs. Across Scotland today, we have seen Housing First helping those with some of the most acute support needs. This is to be applauded, but while the £50 million Ending Homelessness Together Fund has been welcome, the uncertainty of short-term funding awards has made it difficult to plan transformational change and to recruit and retain staff, including introducing or expanding Housing First projects. The Scottish Government must provide longer term funding certainty if local authorities are to achieve the ambitions set out in RRTPs.”
Recent work by the Centre for Social Justice shows that while there is an annual cost of £9,600 for an average Housing First tenant, we can expect to save £15,000 across services in relation to justice, addictions, mental health and homelessness.
Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland said:
“Scotland’s health and social care services are at the heart of putting Housing First across Scotland. Different services and sectors are often supporting the same people – health and social care, homelessness charities, community justice and councils’ housing departments. The evidence shows that coordinating this care around a safe and secure home is better for people and more cost-effective too.”
The latest Scottish Government data shows that an estimated 1,031 Housing First tenancies had started across Scotland as of 31 December 2021. Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling was designed to be a litmus test for how Housing First could scale up across Scotland’s councils.
The conference will mark its culmination after three years, drawing out and incorporating into the conference programme key learning and knowledge from the Housing First Pathfinder Evaluation: First Interim Report, published in 2021 by I-SPHERE at Heriot Watt University.
Professor Sarah Johnsen from I-SPHERE, said:
“The Interim report was an opportunity to examine in detail key outcomes and learning experienced by providers and tenants during the Pathfinder. Everything we now know and have learned from the Pathfinder will feed into the scaling up taking place in councils across the country. Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder has been laying the track for a national programme to make sure people with the toughest homelessness experiences receive the support they want and need.”
Book tickets on the Housing First Scotland website here and sponsorship / exhibitor packages are available to suit a range of budgets and requirements. Please email hello@homelessnetwork.scot to discuss or browse the right option for your organisation here. Follow on Twitter #HeretoStay
Category: Events
Rent arrears must not end in homelessness
Scotland’s Housing First Conference on 31 March, taking place in person once again, will consider how a ‘no evictions into homelessness’ approach could work for tenants and landlords – and if it could be woven through the future Scottish rental strategy as a guiding principle.
The Scottish Government is consulting on ‘A New Deal for Tenants – rented sector strategy’ that seeks to improve accessibility, affordability and standards across the whole rented sector. That consultation frames what is expected to be a popular afternoon breakout at the Housing First conference starting at 1.30pm hosted by Yvonne Gavan, Scottish Government and Ruth Whatling, Homeless Network Scotland.
A New Deal for Tenants also commits to building on learning from the temporary Covid-19 eviction ban and consider how to further protect tenants from being evicted over the winter period. The conference will explore this theme at a ‘Housing ends Homelessness’ session hosted by Callum Chomczuk, National Director of Chartered Institute of Housing with guests David Bookbinder, Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations, Lorna Cameron, Horizon Housing Association, Eileen McMullan, SFHA and Nicola McQuiston, Wheatly Group.
Alongside many other issues, it is an opportunity to unpick how the ‘no evictions into homelessness’ principle, a pillar of the Everyone Home Collective 2022 plan, could operate in practice as part of the rented sector strategy. And specifically asking if it is possible to end to all evictions into homelessness, all year round?
Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, which is running the conference, said:
“There should be no circumstances in Scotland when anyone is evicted with nowhere to go. The Scottish Government’s New Deal for Tenants is an opportunity to pin that principle and consider what practical measures are required to ensure arrangements work for tenants and landlords.
“The stop on evictions during the pandemic was essential to protect public health and prevent homelessness. That first year of the pandemic may be too much of a one-off to benchmark but we can see a negligible impact on rent arrears. So, the question must follow, ‘Does the threat of eviction influence people in the way that has been long been assumed’.”
The conference gets underway with A Well-Lit Path, focusing on learning and experiences at the end of Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder that launched officially in April 2019. This panel session is hosted by Sir Andrew Cubie, Chair of Social Bite and former Chair of the Housing First Advisory Group.
Sir Andrew Cubie said:
“It is a pleasure to be taking part in this ‘in person’ event. It comes as the Pathfinder draws to a close, providing an opportunity to mark the achievements of this remarkable programme. Just as important is the focus on the future with an ambitious, scaled-up Housing First as part of Scotland’s transition to rapid rehousing, ending homelessness for the vast majority of those who take up a tenancy. In many respects this conference takes place at a pivotal time, making it an essential booking for the many who have contributed up to this point and for those who will take it forward.”
Delegates are invited to reconnect at the venue after the conference and join colleagues and speakers for a glass of wine or a soft drink and snacks – an informal opportunity to catch up or make new connections.
Book tickets on the Housing First Scotland website here and sponsorship / exhibitor packages are available to suit a range of budgets and requirements. Please email hello@homelessnetwork.scot to discuss or browse the right option for your organisation here. Follow on Twitter @HFScotland and #HeretoStay
Conference: Housing First is ‘Here to Stay’
Taking place in person once again after two years online, the annual Housing First Conference on 31 March will hear that Housing First is ‘Here To Stay’ in Scotland, which is also the title of the one-day event at Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) – now open for bookings.
The Scottish Government this week announced that more than 1000 Housing First tenancies have been created across the country’s local authorities. The conference will be an opportunity to explore what we now know – and need – for the long-haul, as well as consider some of the pressing questions as the policy continues to scale up across the country.
With a welcome return to in person events, delegates are invited to reconnect at the EICC after the conference and join colleagues and speakers for a glass of wine or a soft drink and snacks. An informal opportunity to catch up or make new connections.
Firmly established as national policy in 2018, by the conference 27 Scottish councils will have embedded Housing First locally, providing ordinary, settled housing as a first response to redress disadvantage and for people whose homelessness is made harder by experiences such as trauma, mental ill-health or addiction.
This year’s event will explore the following themes.
- From sprint to stamina: what is needed to reach the pace and scale of demand estimates for Housing First across Scotland?
- How can people with most to gain be a bigger part of putting Housing First in Scotland?
- How do we collectively ensure frontline workers feel supported, inspired and enabled?
- How can health and social care step up to this challenge – as joint planners, commissioners and providers?
Maggie Brunjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, said:
“Here to Stay is a celebration of the many hundreds of people now building and living their lives in their own home as part of a community. And marking a successful end to the remarkable Pathfinder which achieved results in line with international best practice, despite challenges as a result of the pandemic. With these firm foundations, Here to Stay will also provide an honest exploration of the pace and scale of the challenge that still lies ahead.”
The conference gets underway with A Well-Lit Path, focusing on learning and experiences at the end of Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder that launched officially in April 2019. Hosted by Sir Andrew Cubie, Chair of Social Bite and former Chair of the Housing First Advisory Group, the session features a distinguished panel of experts who have been involved in the Pathfinder, including: Ewan Aitken, Chief Executive, Cyrenians; Professor Sarah Johnsen, ISPHERE at Heriot-Watt University; Nicky Miller, Head of Homelessness, Turning Point Scotland; Ruth Ogilvie, Head of Services, Aberdeen Cyrenians; Bryan Smith, Head of Operations, Transform Community Development, Dundee and Emma Thomson, Head of Care at Wheatley Care.
The morning segment continues with Housing Ends Homelessness. For Housing First to scale up in line with demand estimates, the supply of and access to affordable housing is key. Hosted by Callum Chomczuk, National Director Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland, this session will explore what is needed for and from the housing sector. Panel members include: David Bookbinder, Director, Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations; Lorna Cameron, Chief Executive, Horizon Housing Association; Nicola McQuiston, Wheatley Group and other guests to be confirmed.
Following a break for lunch, the afternoon session signals breakouts on topics such as New Deal for Tenants; Women and Housing First; Breaking the Cycle and Housing First Endings. One session, Housing First – The Help! will provide an expert overview of the new Housing First annual check-up process for local authorities and partners rolling out across the five Housing Options Hubs.
The conference will be rounding off with a session on Home & Belonging from Heather Coady while Tyler Carey, Associate of Homeless Network Scotland, will be in conversation exploring what it is to be ‘trauma informed’, and how can Housing First lead and influence a culture of compassion.
Book tickets on the Housing First Scotland website here and sponsorship / exhibitor packages are available to suit a range of budgets and requirements. Please email hello@homelessnetwork.scot to discuss or browse the right option for your organisation here. Follow on Twitter #HeretoStay
New Duties to Prevent Homelessness Scottish Government & COSLA Consultation
Scottish Government & COSLA have published a joint consultation on new Prevention of Homelessness Duties. The background to the consultation includes:
- A recommendation to legislate from the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group in 2018, accepted by Scottish Ministers.
- Recommendations from the Prevention Review Group reporting 2021, convened by Crisis and chaired by Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick.
- The Prevention Commission, who influenced and scrutinised the Review Group’s work during 2020-21. Led by people with personal experience of homelessness and/or in frontline roles, the Commission was pivotal in cutting through to what matters. You can review the Commission’s deliberations here.
The new duties build from a simple framework to ‘Ask and Act’ – to ask about housing and to then act on what people tell you. The principles underpinning the new duties are that:
- Responsibility to prevent homelessness should be a shared public responsibility and not rely solely or primarily on council’s homelessness services.
- Intervention to prevent homelessness should start as early as possible. In many cases this will be before issues have escalated to a point where homelessness appears imminent.
- People facing homelessness should have choice in where they live and access to the same range of housing outcomes as other members of the general public, with appropriate protections to mitigate further risk of homelessness.
- Housing outcomes should be comparable across the new prevention and existing homelessness duties.
We are holding this online event to create the opportunity to fully explore the prevention duties together. Join us for:
- A full briefing on the scope and intention of the prevention duties.
- Discussion and debate on the key principles and proposals.
This is a free event for Homeless Network Scotland members. Not a member? Join up here
Right to Addiction Recovery Bill Consultation
The Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill was written by activists and was published as a member’s bill by the Scottish Conservatives.
A consultation was launched in October 2021 on a proposal for a Bill and closes in January 2022. The Bill aims to give people a right in law to access a range of different options for treatment and services. In 2020, National Records Scotland reported that drug deaths in Scotland were the highest in Europe and on record. 1,339 people died following drug use in 2020. And just this week, the NRS reported an increase in deaths while people are homeless and in temporary accommodation in Scotland. 256 people had their death recorded while homeless during 2020 – the majority (59%) were preventable drug-related deaths.Join us for a briefing on the scope and intention of the Bill from those involved in its development, on the parliamentary process a bill goes through before it becomes an Act – and discuss what difference the Bill would make, and any amendments it might need to achieve that. Speakers include from the Drugs Policy Unit at Scottish Government and Stephen Wishart, advisor and activist and co-author of the Bill. This is an event for Homeless Network Scotland members. We look forward to seeing you then.