Tag: homelessness

Collective warns of rough sleeping winter risk to life and human rights

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The Everyone Home collective has warned that people forced to sleep rough in Scotland could die this winter because of a severe lack of accommodation amid record levels of homelessness.

The collective has written to Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP and COSLA Community Wellbeing Spokeswoman Councillor Maureen Chalmers voicing “serious concern” that the housing emergency will put lives at risk in the coming months. As things stand, there is simply not enough safe accommodation available for those who are homeless this winter. 

The group, made up of nearly 40 third and academic sector organisations focused on housing and homelessness, issued a call for coordinated action as it warned of an accelerating crisis magnified by factors including cost-of-living pressures, austerity and inadequate social security. 

Everyone Home has also for the first time written to the Scottish Human Rights Commission to ask them to urgently investigate this potential breach of government obligations to protect the fundamental right to life. Both Scottish Government and local authorities have duties under the Human Rights Act 1998 to take measures to safeguard lives. 

In addition, the organisations have urged UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP to ensure that the Home Office plays its part in preventing homelessness in Scotland. The Home Office must provide local authorities in Scotland with resources to ensure people granted Leave to Remain can move quickly into settled homes. 

Everyone Home states: “Every person who is forced to sleep rough is one too many. Being left with no choice but to sleep in doorways and tunnels and parks severely damages people’s health and wellbeing, risks their safety and their lives, strips them of dignity and affects our wider communities too.  

“In Scotland in 2024, no one should be left with no choice but to sleep on the street, and we emphasise that forcing people to do so at any time of year and particularly during winter puts their life at risk.”  

It comes after Scottish Government statistics for 2023/24 showed that the number of people who slept rough prior to a homelessness application rose by 506 to 2,931 in the last year. That represents 7% of all households making an application and is higher than the pre-pandemic figure. 

The statistics also revealed rough sleeping is on the rise across much of the country – including locations not traditionally affected to the same extent as urban areas. 

Action to address the housing emergency now and in the longer term was top of the agenda at Scotland’s annual homelessness conference on 29 and 30 October, along with strengthening prevention and ensuring public bodies are equipped to deliver on their duties to address and prevent homelessness.

Maggie Brunjes, chief executive, Homeless Network Scotland said: “As we move into the coldest part of the year, we cannot allow an already bad situation to descend into tragedy. We need local and national government teams to work together quickly and effectively to protect lives by ensuring everyone has a safe place to stay.

“The bar has been set far too low for those at the sharpest end of homelessness this year and we cannot accept this. We need swift action to allocate and target resources to provide people with – at a minimum – somewhere safe to stay while they wait for a settled home.”

Letter to Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP

Letter to Yvette Cooper MP

Letter to the Scottish Human Rights Commission

Homelessness conference sets delegates emergency task

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Delegates at Scotland’s annual homelessness conference on 29 and 30 October will be tasked with creating a route-map out of the housing and homelessness emergency.

The focus of Right Here, Right Now is what action taken now can ease the escalating crisis and what needs to happen next to create a better long-term future. Insight will be gathered through sessions and debates hooked on four urgent themes – Housing Supply, Supporting People, Rights and Duties, and Prevention.

Keynote guests at the event at Perth Concert Hall, delivered in partnership with The Salvation Army, include TV presenter, mental health advocate and motivational speaker Gail Porter, who has experienced homelessness.

Housing Minister Paul McLennan will address conference and be quizzed on stage by members of the All in For Change team who have lived experience of homelessness.

And in another must-see set piece, Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland, will interview Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.

This year’s conference is the first since the Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency. Twelve local authorities have declared their own emergencies.

And it comes weeks after annual homelessness statistics released by the Scottish Government revealed rising homelessness applications, rough sleeping, and more than 10,000 children now living in temporary accommodation.

Sessions and debates over the 2 days cover issues including the housing emergency, the impact of hostile UK immigration policy in Scotland, making wider prevention duties in the Housing Bill work, and how to support increasingly pressurised frontline staff.

Helen Murdoch, Assistant Director Strategic Operations and Development (Scotland), with The Salvation Army, said: “The Salvation Army is proud to support this year’s conference, helping to ensure Scotland’s third sector continues to speak with a collective voice on the big issues connected to homelessness.

“In harnessing our collective will, we narrow the gap between great policy and what people are seeing and experiencing. The recent homelessness statistics provide added focus and a sense of urgency. Every 16 minutes in Scotland, someone becomes homeless.

“Over the past decade there has been an 87 per cent rise in the number of homeless households who have both mental health and substance use support needs. This event brings together expertise and experience in these fields and more, all vital to ending homelessness for good.”

Maggie Brünjes, chief executive, Homeless Network Scotland, said: “The people in the room in Perth will bring unrivalled expertise and opinion on what needs to happen to ensure people are prioritised, and the sector united, during a housing emergency.

“You only have to look at the line-up of guests, and to know the kind of supporters who come to the conference, to know that this is the right group of people to set in motion change for the better.”

Full programme and booking

Now recruiting: join the Homeless Network Scotland Board

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In the face of a housing emergency and cost of living crisis, homelessness is rising fast in Scotland. At the same time, we have a landmark Housing Bill going through parliament which could, if delivered properly, change the face of homelessness by significantly widening prevention duties.  

Addressing the current homelessness crisis and ensuring we get the legislation and systems we need for the longer term requires people who can inspire, shape and influence positive change. 

The Board of Homeless Network Scotland, the national membership body for organisations and individuals committed to ending homelessness in Scotland, is at the forefront of this work.  

At this critical moment, the board is recruiting new members to extend its reach, broaden its lens and welcome new skills and diverse voices. 

By joining the board, you can make your knowledge and passion count in the collective push to create a better future for everyone in Scotland. And you will have the opportunity to add your voice to an authoritative group of dedicated board members with decades of experience and expertise. 

Convenor Jackie Erdman, formerly Head of Equality and Human Rights at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “Our trustees span different sectors and disciplines, bringing expertise and passion to the role. 

“We aim to provide a holistic oversight to the work, supporting the team in their engagement with Homeless Network Scotland members. We believe that homelessness can only be resolved through approaches that link up health, wellbeing and housing, informed by engagement with people who have experienced homelessness. We welcome new trustees who can help us develop that strategy. From my experience, I know you will find it stimulating and rewarding.” 

Current board member Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, director of the Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University, said: “As well as contributing to efforts to end homelessness in Scotland and influencing the future direction of how systems and services respond to homelessness, you’ll be working with colleagues with diverse and deep expertise across housing, homelessness and related sectors.” 

Vice-convenor Peter Kelly, chief executive of the Poverty Alliance, said: “Being a Board member is an incredibly rewarding role. As a trustee you will undoubtedly learn as much as you contribute.” 

James Strang, chair of Riverside Scotland and former president of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “The latest set of annual homeless statistics reveal rising homelessness and rough sleeping – and show exactly why we need to push on with our work. We welcome nominations from people who can widen our scope and add to our existing skills and knowledge. This is an opportunity to make a real difference for people and communities all over Scotland.” 

About Homeless Network Scotland  

From its origins as a local charity formed in 1980, it is now the national membership body of people and organisations committed to ending homelessness in Scotland. It is an organisation that acts on evidence and is informed by people with direct experience of homelessness and by the breadth of its members’ insights and knowledge. 

Homeless Network Scotland provides direction, connects people, and works to inspire the values and vision that will transform Scotland into a place where everyone has a home. Read more about our work: www.homelessnetwork.scot 

The Role of the Board  

A Board member of Homeless Network Scotland is a non-executive company director and a charity trustee. The Board of Directors:   

  • Work in the interests of Homeless Network Scotland and further its influence and its strategic and charitable aims. 
  • Take part in reviewing the strategy of Homeless Network Scotland and accounting for its activities and impact.     
  • Ensure that Homeless Network Scotland functions within the legal and financial requirements of a charitable organisation and strives to achieve best practice.     

You are warmly encouraged to make a nomination for election to the Board of Directors of Homeless Network Scotland, which will be decided at the AGM on 29 October 2024 at Perth Concert Hall.  

Nomination information and form

October Network Briefing out now

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Among this month’s briefings are the latest report into the Fair Way Scotland partnership, which reveals the toll of destitution inflicted by UK immigration policy on people seeking to settle in Scotland – the hidden humanitarian crisis within the housing emergency. 

We also share news of the launch of No Wrong Door Scotland, a learning partnership working to join up services for people at the hard edges. 

Other must-read briefings cover reaction to homelessness statistics and the Housing Bill, child poverty, digital exclusion, plus a video and blog on the new rental sector in Romania – where people were asked what makes the ‘ideal’ landlord. 

Find the briefing below and subscribe here to stay in the loop each month on homelessness, housing and related areas.

Read the briefing

Homelessness data reveals a breach of trust

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The annual homelessness statistics released today by the Scottish Government make for sober reading. And reveal the breach of trust between government and the housing and homelessness sector in Scotland.

The figures reveal a 4% rise in homelessness applications – topping 40,000 households asking their council for help during 2023-24. An 8% rise in live cases nationwide to 31,870 and a 9% rise in people stuck in temporary accommodation – a record high – including more than 10,000 kids waiting for a permanent home. 506 more people experienced the sharpest edge of homelessness, being forced to sleep rough with no roof over their heads at all.

These are not just numbers – they are individuals, families and children being let down in a crisis and diverted to temporary flats, hotels and B&Bs, instead of homes, for months on end.

It is a deeply distressing situation for people affected, as well as for the services and sectors that support people, and the organisations committed to advocating for people and for change.

While the post-pandemic environment and cost-of-living crisis has played a hand, Scotland’s progressive housing policy has been undermined by its own hand and the fiscal policy of both UK and Scottish Governments.

The Scottish Government’s December budget made a hugely damaging £200m cut to the affordable housing supply programme, over and above the reach of the UK Government’s capital budget freeze. It is notable that the quarterly housing statistics also published today showed affordable home approvals were 44% lower than the peak figure in the year to June 2020.

Each and every decision jeopardising housing targets and exposing the progress made towards ending homelessness and rough sleeping in Scotland to new risk. And each and every decision betraying the trust of the sector, ignoring warnings, expert insights and evidence.

Scotland has a housing emergency – it’s time to act like it.

But how? Only with housing and fiscal policy aligned, and a supply of affordable housing in line with demand, will we see the scale of progress we need on the key pillars of Scotland’s progressive homelessness policy – prevention, reducing unsuitable, expensive and temporary accommodation, ensuring childhoods are spent in settled not temporary homes, scaling up Housing First for those at the hardest edge – and ensuring people seeking sanctuary or to settle in Scotland have a safe place to stay.

The statistics show thousands of people are being denied their legal right to housing because the system is operating way beyond capacity.  Our progressive housing and homelessness rights are designed to avoid this, but urgently need backed up with adequate investment in homelessness, support and building social homes.

And we need to think big – on matters of land and wealth tax and on the society we want to be.

In the near-term, local authorities need proper funding to discharge their statutory duty properly in the face of intense external pressures. And they need proper investment support to implement rapid rehousing plans. This approach is proven to work – a system that prioritises earlier prevention and ensures stays in temporary accommodation are as brief as possible.

Without these interventions – and without thinking big – these statistics will become entrenched as a predictable yearly roll call of how tens of thousands of people experiencing homelessness are failed year after year in Scotland.