Category: Housing First

UPDATE: Consultation period has now ended.

A 90-page National Framework for Housing First in Scotland opened for consultation in November 2020. It is a ‘how to and why’ professional guide, setting out what each partner brings, and what each will need in order to make Housing First a success in all parts of the country from 2021.

Housing First provides ordinary, settled housing as a first response to redress the disadvantages faced by people whose homelessness is made harder by longer-term experiences such as trauma and addiction. The evidence base for Housing First is far stronger than for any other intervention for a group of people who have traditionally been poorly served by what is available to them.

Pathfinders in Aberdeen/shire, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling launched fully in 2019. These local partnerships were tasked with exposing the challenges and difficulties encountered in scaling up Housing First across a local authority area, and to share that learning.

Homeless Network Scotland has drafted the Framework, with support from expert advisors from across national and local government, housing and support providers and the Pathfinders.

Maggie Brünjes, Chief executive at Homeless Network Scotland, said:

“Scotland is on a mission to scale up Housing First. It has cross-party support and a Pathfinder that has been guided expertly by the Scottish Government, councils and local providers. With scrutiny of local systems and processes by different sectors working in partnership, more people are being housed and supported more quickly.”

“What has been achieved in Scotland is viewed as pace-setting by international colleagues – but it wasn’t easy and this is just the start. If we really mean business it calls for a 10-year vision from politicians, housing providers and support services – an enduring commitment to create the right conditions for Housing First to flourish. This means the right investment, access to housing and delivered in a joined-up way with broader health and social care partnerships.”

International experience highlights Housing First as a catalyst for broader improvements in local housing and homelessness systems and this has been the early experience of the Housing First Pathfinders. Around 90% of tenants remain in their homes and a growing number are celebrating two years or more at home, with no evictions from the programme.

The National Framework draws from that learning and is designed for all organisations and sectors starting or scaling up Housing First in Scotland. It sets out the context in which the approach can be successfully delivered, and should act as a guide to planning, commissioning and implementing the approach. Importantly, section seven provides a ‘Live Status Report’, which will monitor progress toward achieving the right conditions for Housing First to be scaled up right across Scotland, in line with local need.

Maggie Brünjes added:

“This is a national challenge to redress the unfairness experienced by people whose homelessness is made harder by experiences such as trauma, addictions and mental ill-health. Each partner brings something unique – but also has a set of expectations of what they need in place to enable them to deliver. We want to hear from all individuals and organisations that have an interest in Housing First, or a role in delivering it.”

The draft National Framework for Housing First is available here.

Please follow @HFScotland for updates and email housingfirst@homelessnetwork.scot to discuss any element of the Framework.

A guide for Scotland’s 32 local authorities is published todaysummarising more than 100 recommendations from the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG) after it was reconvened by the Scottish Government in response to the pandemic. The guide has been developed by Crisis and Homeless Network Scotland, with support from local authority officers and the Scottish Government.

HARSAG met originally in 2017 to recommend actions and solutions needed to eradicate rough sleeping and transform the use of temporary accommodation in Scotland. It also advised Scottish Ministers on how to ensure the recommendations are successfully implemented to secure rapid change and improvement. The Scottish Government reconvened HARSAG in June 2020 to help mitigate against the impact of the pandemic on this progress.

This latest series of recommendations endorse rapid rehousing as the key approach in preventing and resolving homelessness in Scotland and the right framework for recovery. There are also central asks of the UK Government on issues such as No Recourse to Public Funds.

Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis and Chair of HARSAG, said:

“Scotland has made great progress in addressing homelessness in recent years, adopting rapid rehousing as a key policy at national level and publishing a Government Action Plan to End Homelessness.

“The Scottish Government reconvened the HARSAG in June in order to ensure this progress continues through the pandemic. The Group highlighted key actions local authorities and their partners must take to accelerate the elements of rapid rehousing which we know work best – preventing homelessness before it happens and prioritising safe, settled homes over temporary accommodation. 

“This short, simple guide will make it easier for local authorities across Scotland to implement HARSAG’s recommendations and refresh their rapid rehousing strategies in light of the pandemic. Local authorities and partners now have clear guidelines on how to work together to help end homelessness for good.”

Elena Whitham, COSLA Community Wellbeing Spokesperson, said:

“Local Government is committed to working with partners to end homelessness, and this short guide is intended to support the transfer of the national recommendations and policy into local delivery. We know that although we have all experienced the pandemic, its effects and impacts have not been the same across the country, however significant challenges exist for all. I hope this guide, provides useful assistance in our shared ambition of ending homelessness in Scotland.”

Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive at Homeless Network Scotland, which worked alongside Crisis, local authority and Scottish Government colleagues to produce the guide said:

“Councils in Scotland are at the centre of the response to Covid in so many ways. The guide is a simple tool to assist local authorities transfer into delivery the main themes sitting behind over 100 recommendations. It highlights what they mean for councils’ Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans, which all local authorities have produced, and sets out the roles and actions expected of key partners.”

The recommendations recognise that, on account of the pandemic, Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans (RRTPs) must be adapted and the data informing them reviewed, and some of HARSAG’s original recommendations must be accelerated, emphasised or broadened in focus.

The four key themes in the guide are: 

• prioritise prevention

• broadening settled housing options

• deepening the equalities focus

• creating a responsive system with ‘no wrong door’.