Category: News

Following new recommendations from the reconvened Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG) over the summer the Scottish Government has today (8 October 2020) published an updated Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan. The plan was first published in November 2018, drawing on recommendations from the original HARSAG. 

In one proposal, Scotland’s night shelters, in Edinburgh and Glasgow, will be transformed into Covid-secure rapid rehousing welcome centres for people who would otherwise be sleeping rough this winter. 

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

“Home has never been so important – home saves lives. It is right that the Scottish Government has published this enhanced action plan based on everything we now know.

“This was an already ambitious plan, now going further, while holding firm to the guiding principles of prevention and rapid rehousing. Among the changes, dormitory style winter night shelters will not feature in our response to homelessness in Scotland this year.

“The night shelter providers, Glasgow City Mission and Bethany Christian Trust in Edinburgh, have worked closely with the two city councils and the Scottish Government to provide self-contained, en-suite rooms with rapid links to housing, welfare and support services. These Rapid Rehousing Welcome Centres will transform the rough sleeping safety net and I want to thank our third sector and local authority colleagues for such a progressive achievement.”

Stirling University is leading a project exploring the environment around veterans housing issues on behalf of Forces In Mind Trust. Initial findings indicate housing transitions are generally smoother than in the past and personnel better prepared, with improving collaboration. Some of the risks and challenges include longer term housing issues and a risk that some improvements we have seen in recent years could still be lost, for example due to Covid and economic factors. 

Dr Steve Rolfe, Research Fellow in Housing Studies, University of Stirling, said: “It’s better, but it’s not fixed. There is evidence that service personnel are being picked up by the system, with very few people presenting as homeless on leaving the service. We see issues that develop later and concerns remain around support for people leaving who are experiencing mental ill health and those who are discharged in more complex circumstances. 

“We have seen better support where transition is into social housing and the PRS, with charitable support for white goods, etc. However, the complexity of the housing system remains challenging, along with immigration status for foreign and commonwealth personnel. The improvements we have seen in recent years are impressive because they have been rolled out with the background of austerity. However, the future remains uncertain due to continuing pressures from the various factors we all know about.”  

The research including a series of recommendations will be published in November on the Forces in Mind Trust website.

The Everyone Home Collective is planning to publish its next Route Map shortly dealing with the issue of No Recourse to Public Funds as it relates to homelessness in Scotland. 

The draft was published for consultation in August and that ended last week on 30 September, thank you to all those who took the time to respond and contribute. 

In a significant development, the draft Route Map was agreed by the COSLA Wellbeing Board in September paving the way for a joint approach to the issue of No Recourse to Public Funds from national and local government as well as the third sector here in Scotland. 

The full Route Map will be published on the Everyone Home website during the week beginning 12 October.