Homeless Network Scotland’s regular update is now live and you can access it by following this link. This month’s Network Briefing includes the latest sector news and details of our current recruitment for Head of Policy and Equalities, plus an update on All In For Change as we welcome 14 new members to the team. There are dates for your diary, including a ‘save the date’ for our autumn conference as well as some events taking place in the next few weeks. To receive the Network Briefing direct to your inbox, sign up here.
Tag: scotland
Comment: no evictions to nowhere
Claire Frew, Policy and Impact Manager at Homeless Network Scotland, comments on the current discussions on evictions and the urgency needed to prevent evictions in homelessness.
Emergency legislation to prevent the enforcement of evictions during the pandemic has played a vital role in protecting people’s homes – and may at least in part have contributed to the reduction in homelessness applications reported during the first year of lockdown.
As circumstances change and restrictions start to lift, partners who came together on this issue in response to the public health emergency are now setting out what is needed in the longer term.
SFHA in a recent report encourage that the pre-pandemic process on evictions needs returned to, that housing associations always arrange payment plans for tenants in rent arrears and will not evict someone who has agreed to, and is meeting, the terms of such an agreement. On the other hand, there are also strong arguments being made for an extension to the pause on evictions; that people’s homes should be protected while there is any level of pandemic restriction in Scotland.
For Homeless Network Scotland, the route forward is clear – under no circumstances should anyone in Scotland be evicted with nowhere to go. That has always been disproportionate, serves no purpose and achieves no gain. This is also a central pillar of Everyone Home, the collective of 35 third and academic sector organisations. We need the focus of the current conversation on evictions to shift there, and urgently.
The most common reason for eviction is rent arrears. The Scottish Government recently announced a £10m fund, grants, not loans, to support tenants who have fallen into rent arrears as a direct result of COVID-19. While the details are still to be worked up, this is welcome. Getting cash directly to people can stop evictions quickly and decisively. It must be directed to prevent evictions and to reset the counter on any stage of the eviction process that the household was at.
We want to encourage confidence – and evidence – that housing associations will never evict someone who has agreed to, and is meeting, the conditions of rent payment plans. And with more support for housing associations, councils and tenants to deliver that.
And importantly, we want more value given to the benefits of early intervention and the value of keeping people in their homes where possible. This outcome can be achieved through a proactive housing management approach focused on earlier intervention, with independent advice, information and advocacy for tenants and resources in place to ensure we do not return to a situation where people are being turned away or moved on without accommodation.
The SFHA report acknowledges the benefits of early intervention and the value of keeping people in their homes where possible. To follow on from this, SFHA – in partnership with Homeless Network Scotland, Crisis and Simon Community Scotland – are inviting bids from housing specialists to research, consult and create a practical resource to assist social housing providers to protect homes, prevent eviction, maximise tenancy sustainment and prevent homelessness in Scotland.
More information from the SFHA website here: www.sfha.co.uk/jobs-online/tenders
New roles ramp up Lived Experience to resolve Homelessness
During a question & answer session at the Homeless Network Scotland conference in March then Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart MSP, was asked what made Scotland’s response to homelessness different. The Minister’s response was instantaneous – ‘People’.
Among the most active independent people working to ensure the right solutions are put in place has been the Change Team. Collectively, team members form All In For Change, a group comprising individuals working in the sector along with those who have their own lived experience of being homeless, drawn from across Scotland. This unique arrangement means the big issues can be viewed from multiple perspectives at the same time and in the same space. The kaleidoscope of views and opinions this process cultivates makes sure those who know the answers are helping to shape solutions. Homeless Network Scotland created this platform for people in partnership with Cyrenians and Scottish Community Development Centre.
The Change Team are experts in what homelessness looks like on the ground for those most affected by it, which is why they have a seat at the table on the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group. The combination of practical and professional experience has been valuable in helping to shape important work taking place under pressure during the pandemic. Members have also contributed to longer term decision making and policy setting in connection to the work of the Everyone Home Collective and the Prevention Review Group, which reported in the spring.
Building from the impact All In For Change has had during the past 18 months, the Scottish Government committed in the Housing to 2040 paper to create an exciting opportunity for one person with current or previous experience of homelessness to join its Homelessness Unit on secondment for up to two years. The post is called a ‘Policy Officer’ and is a full-time, paid position. Applications close this Sunday 20 June at 4pm.
The post holder will work with colleagues across the Homelessness Unit and with the Change Team to deliver commitments in the Ending Homelessness Together action plan, such as preventing homelessness from happening in the first place, improving temporary accommodation standards, supporting the shift to rapid rehousing and understanding housing affordability.
The Change Team will continue to play a major part in helping to shape homelessness policy and practice, including the Scottish Government’s updated Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan. With this in mind, the team is looking to expand and in addition to the opportunity above is recruiting for people with lived experience to take forward this important agenda as a Change Team member.
The team use clear language and an open working approach to bridge the gap between decision makers, people working in services and people making use of services as part of a joined-up drive to end homelessness in Scotland.
Change Leads with experience of homelessness are paid at Real Living Wage of £9.50 per hour for work carried out on behalf of All In For Change, around two hours per week is invited. Click here for details and to apply. The Scottish Government role is a paid, full time secondment of 37 hours per week. For further information about that post, please contact Janice Higgins at Homeless Network Scotland on JHiggins@homelessnetwork.scot and email completed applications to Janice by 4pm on Sunday 20 June 2021 – the application closing date for both roles.
Housing First Pathfinder passes 500 tenancies
Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder has created more than 500 tenancies since it launched two years ago, with an additional 25 added in April 2021.
Housing First provides ordinary, settled housing as a first response for people whose homelessness is made harder by experiences such as trauma, addiction and mental ill health. The Pathfinder launched officially in 2019 in Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling supported by housing providers and funding from The Merchants House of Glasgow, Scottish Government and Social Bite.
Ewan Aitken, Chief Executive at Cyrenians, which leads the Edinburgh Housing First Consortium, said:
“A home is a fundamental human need – we all need one to build a life and to flourish. Housing First is a truly system-changing approach, built on respect for others, whatever their circumstances. It is one that acknowledges that meeting this fundamental need should come first, rather than supporting someone until they’re ‘housing-ready’ – as had previously been the case, and an impossible task for those from the toughest of realities. Then the building of relationships-based support is what makes the tenancy sustainable, so that people can lead the life they want to lead.
“At Cyrenians we are privileged to with work our partners and lead the Housing First Edinburgh Consortium, and play a part in Scotland’s story of Housing First. There is much to be done ahead in building a Scotland that works for everyone, but this incredible milestone is cause for celebration, and a moment to recognise the incredible work of frontline workers and the people they journey with, right across Scotland”
Josh Littlejohn MBE, co-founder of Social Bite, which kick-started the Pathfinder, said:
“It’s amazing to see the Housing First Scotland Pathfinder programme surpass its 500-tenancy milestone, and not only that, but to also see more than 85% of individuals continuing to maintain their tenancy each month makes it an even bigger achievement for everyone involved.
“While the world ground to a halt due to the pandemic, the Pathfinder continued to work tirelessly to ensure people were still being housed, bringing us this incredible result. Social Bite is immensely proud to have played a part in making the pathfinder a reality and it is with special thanks to everyone that supported or took part in the Sleep in the Park campaigns that we are able to celebrate this significant milestone. Long may this vital work continue.”
“Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, which is Programme Manager for the Pathfinder, said:
“Each milestone reached is achieved by new tenants putting down roots, and the commitment of local authorities, housing and support providers helping that to happen. We are proud that 507 tenancies have been created in the Pathfinder areas and a strong performance in April as we enter year three is encouraging as Housing First starts to scale up across Scotland. The National Framework provides a clear and comprehensive resource to support every partner and sector starting or scaling up Housing First in Scotland and is updated four times a year to keep it current and relevant for everyone.”
The key indicator of ‘tenancy sustainment’, which shows how many people kept their tenancy, remained high throughout the second full year of the Pathfinder, and is 86% per cent for April 2021 as the Programme marks two full years of operation. This compares favourably to international standards. The Pathfinder has now entered its third and final year, as Housing First Scotland sees most local authorities adopt the model as part of their Rapid Rehousing plans.
Housing First branches out from April
Doug Gibson has been involved in the adoption and scaling up of Housing First through his role as programme manager for the Housing First Pathfinder. As the approach extends across most council areas in Scotland starting from this week, he considers how it could help end large scale homelessness for good.
When I visited Finland in early 2020, I was struck by the confidence and pragmatism of this small nation, the only European country where homelessness is falling. It’s hardly surprising that the policy underpinning that success, Housing First, has more and more fans here in Scotland where the policy is well established, and also in the other GB nations and regions.
For decades the problem was viewed as intractable, a stubborn feature of metropolitan life in cities around the world, including those in the richest countries like ours. In attempting to resolve homelessness all manner of schemes and solution were broached and implemented, short of providing people with a home. The alternate approach of the Fins is simple. In 2007 they adopted Housing First as the anchor for a wider political vision to address the toughest experiences of homelessness as part of a rapid rehousing approach.
Finland ‘s enviable record since can be actively attributed to their adoption of the Housing First model, a system pioneered in the USA that is evidence based, compassionate and abandons notions of blame or deserving. There is now an overwhelming body of international evidence showing that, with close fidelity to the Housing First principles, most tenants are likely to stay housed – and feel benefit in many other ways too.
In Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder, which operates across five areas, the approach has delivered 87 percent housing retention rates in the first two years of the programme. This statistic – up there with the best international comparisons – tees up a range of benefits for both individuals and society as we begin to mainstream the policy across the country in this, the third and final year of the Pathfinder.
It improves health outcomes and decreases contact with community justice, in turn reducing A&E admissions and improving cost-effectiveness of service delivery. It is replacing chaos with support and temporary accommodation with permanent and there have been no evictions out of more than 450 tenancies created.
Many people who have taken up a tenancy through the programme have typically struggled in life, following adverse childhood experiences, negotiating multiple challenges and obstacles along the way such as trauma, addiction, poor mental health or physical disability and other forms of severe multiple disadvantage.
Estimates suggest that more than 800,000 adults in Scotland have experienced all three of the indicators of severe multiple disadvantage: homelessness, substance dependency and offending. Homelessness is the most common of these when viewed over an adult’s lifetime and a study for the Scottish Government in 2018 states that at least eight percent of the Scottish population had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. When you consider this percentage also represents the entire population of Scotland within the UK, it is clear why the issue matters to us all.
If finding answers to society’s toughest problems is the prize then Housing First is an attractive, integrated solution. In recent years in Scotland, more so since the pandemic began, resolving homelessness has resulted in regular co-operation and an acknowledgment that solving this problem is not impossible, but will take time. We must trust the evidence that says if we stay the course Scotland could be the other country in Europe where homelessness is falling.