Scottish and UK Governments urged to make investment to end homelessness

A homeless man on the street in Glasgow (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

CAMPAIGNERS are calling on the Scottish and UK governments to make the “long term investment” needed to bring an end to homelessness.

Homeless Action Scotland (HAS) made the plea in the run-up to Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget next week, while Scottish Finance Secretary Derek Mackay will outline his spending plans in December.

Organisation chief executive Gavin Yates said that action to tackle the problem was “at a crossroads”.

The Scottish Government has already announced funding of £50 million to help tackle the problem over five years, while a special action group is being established in a bid to cut rough sleeping.

Speaking ahead of the National Homelessness Conference in Glasgow, Mr Yates said: “Scotland is at a crossroads in terms of its willingness to tackle homelessness in all of its many forms.

“I think public opinion is firmly on the side of action and both civil society and politicians are starting to address the fundamental issues of poverty, disadvantage, housing supply and support.

“We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling both rough sleeping and reform of temporary accommodation and we have been involved in discussions on both already.

“However, with both a UK budget and a Scottish budget to be announced before the end of year, we need to see long term investment to make the changes we want to see to end homelessness.

“There needs to be a national consensus to drive the progress we all wish to see and to really achieve the result for the people we serve.”

https://www.sundaypost.com/news/scottish-news/social-bite-sleepout-event-funds-to-target-housing-first-model/

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart stated: “Tackling and preventing homelessness is a key government priority which is why we recently established a Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, to work on the actions required to end rough sleeping and transform the use of temporary accommodation.

“And to drive that change and improvement we have established a £50 million Ending Homelessness Together Fund.

“We are determined to achieve a national objective to eradicate rough sleeping, and Homeless Action Scotland is an important partner in helping achieve that.

“Scotland has some of the strongest rights for homeless people in the world. We want to ensure people are accessing those, recognising that it requires more than just the provision of housing.

“That can only be achieved through joint working, and I am delighted to work with a range of partners, including HAS, to effect change and tackling the underlying causes of homelessness, and prevent it before it occurs.”