Category: News

New Board Members for Trustees’ Week

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Homeless Network Scotland has welcomed five new Directors to its Board.

The new appointments strengthen the Board to 14. Maggie Brünjes, Chief executive at Homeless Network Scotland, said:

“A warm welcome our new Board Members, who bring a fresh perspective and new set of skills and experience to the organisation at a critical time for homelessness policy and services in Scotland. I want to thank those board members who stood down this year for their support and advice during their term. We look forward to welcoming our new directors to the next Board meeting in December.”

The new Board Members are:

Jackie Erdman, Individual Member, recently retired Head of Equality & Human Rights and Corporate Inequalities Manager, NHSGGC, said:

“I have supported the work of Homeless Network Scotland for many years and their objective to even the playing field for people with the toughest experiences of homelessness. Their recent conference, which had a public health theme, reinforced what we already know. Heath, wellbeing and homelessness are so inter-linked that closer working between different sectors and professional disciplines is essential to improve overall outcomes for people in Scotland.”

New Board Member, Ashleigh Simpson, Head of Policy and Communications at Crisis Scotland, said:

“I’ve been inspired by Homeless Network Scotland’s collaborative approach and their commitment to ensuring that people with lived experience are at the heart of change. I’m pleased to join their board and to work with them to prevent and end homelessness in Scotland for good.”

You can view the full Board of Directors for Homeless Network Scotland here.

Homelessness Guide for Scots Councils

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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’.

Impact of Covid-19 on Social Landlords

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The Scottish Housing Regulator has continued to publish its monthly updates on the impact of Covid-19 on the work delivered by social landlords, which includes local authorities delivering statutory homelessness services. 

The data for September points us towards some good news, and also identifies some areas that still require improvement.  The data shows that the number of homelessness applications made to Scottish local authorities has gone down for the second consecutive month, with a 3% reduction between August and September.  And while there are 14,200 households in temporary accommodation, September saw the first small reduction since the beginning of the pandemic.

Further good news is the number of social housing lets increased by 17% in September.  But with only 38% of lets during the month going to homeless households, there is still a long way to go in hitting the 80-90% rate recommended by the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group to see progress in reducing the numbers of households in temporary accommodation across the country. 

You can find the full data for September here. 

Unsuitable Accommodation Order – Draft Guidance

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We are pleased to continue to support the work by the Scottish Government and local authorities to develop clear guidance as the revised Unsuitable Accommodation Order across the country. 

In our response to a recent informal consultation, we welcomed the clarifications in the updated draft of the guidance in relation to the centrality of accommodation being accessible, the setting of a maximum number of people who can be accommodated in shared tenancies, and that rapid access accommodation is accessible without a completed homelessness assessment. 

As the drafting of the guidance moves into the final phase, we would still like to see some additional clarity on how choice and consent will be built in for ‘out of area’ placements and deciding whether a placement in a particular locality is suitable.  

Scottish Government consultation on modifying local connection referrals

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In our response to the Scottish Government consultation on a Ministerial Statement for modifying local connection referrals in Scotland we reaffirmed our strong commitment to the suspension of local connection referrals in Scotland, endorsing the position that better housing outcomes are more likely to be achieved through increased choice for the households affected, than a strict application of a legislative test by a local authority.

We understand that any change in legislation brings with it a level of uncertainty, and agree with the need to monitor any impact of the change on a local authority’s ability to meet their homelessness and housing duties. 

We do not anticipate that any impact on local authorities will outweigh the positive benefits achieved for those directly affected, and we support robust and transparent monitoring and reporting to be sure.