Call for Evidence – Follow-up to Homelessness in Scotland inquiry
In 2011/2012 the Scottish Parliament’s Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee conducted an inquiry into the Scottish Government commitment to abolish the priority need test from the assessment of homeless applications.
The Committee undertook, in its report, to “monitor the implementation of the commitment for the remained of the parliamentary session and address any issues of concern which may emerge”, and has agreed to conduct a short follow-up inquiry.
The Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 made provision of the abolition the priority need test from 31 December 2012.Under this test only people falling into certain categories[1] of applicant were entitled to settled accommodation, such as households with children, physical or mental illness or with vulnerabilities. This meant that many people, although homeless, were not eligible for settled accommodation. From 31 December 2012 the priority need categories were abolished and all unintentionally homeless applicants have had the right to be provided with settled accommodation.
On 11 June 2013 the Committee took evidence from the Scottish Housing Regulator on its thematic inquiry – Housing Options in Scotland.
As part of its follow-up inquiry, the Committee invites interested organisations and individuals to submit written evidence on how local authorities are meeting their duties to people who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness since the abolition of the priority need test on 31 December 2012.
In particular, the committee would like to obtain views and evidence on the following key questions:
· what impact has the abolition of priority need had on people seeking assistance with homelessness?
· what have been the main challenges and opportunities provided by the abolition of priority need and how have local authorities and other stakeholders responded to these?
· what impact is the housing options approach having on homelessness services and service users?
· how are the housing options hubs developing across Scotland, what has been their impact and how could they be developed in the future?
· what has been the impact of the implementation of the housing support regulations[2]?
The Committee’s scrutiny is built on evidence, and written submissions are an important part of its consideration of the implementation of this duty.
The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee hopes to consider written submissions and to take oral evidence between August and November 2014 and to publish its report by the end of December 2014.
The Committee requests that all submissions be received no later than Friday 5 September 2014.
How to submit written evidence
The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee’s webpages include a dedicated page for the inquiry where you can access the call for evidence and background information. You can also follow the Committee’s scrutiny and read any evidence received.
Before making a submission, please read the Parliament’s policy on treatment of written evidence by subject and mandatory committees.
Written submissions should normally be limited to around 6 sides of A4 but, if they need to be much longer than this, they should be accompanied by a short summary of the main points. Submissions should be set out in numbered paragraphs. Where the submission refers to existing published material, it is preferable to provide hyperlinks or full citations (rather than extensive extracts).
The Committee prefers to receive written submissions electronically (preferably in Microsoft Word format). These should be sent by e-mail to: [email protected]. However you may also make hard copy written submissions to:
Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee
Room T3.40
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Any queries about written submissions should be addressed in the first instance to the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee clerking team at the above e-mail address or on (0131) 348 5229.