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Women-only Homeless Accommodation (PE2147)
Item 3 is consideration of new petitions, of which we have only one this morning. I highlight—as I always do—that, in advance of the committee considering new petitions, we do two things. First, we invite the Scottish Parliament’s independent research body, the Scottish Parliament information centre, to offer us a view on the issues that have been raised in the petition. That information is submitted to members of the committee in advance, with the papers that we receive. We also invite the Scottish Government to give us a preliminary view. We do those two things because, historically, they were the first two things that the committee used to recommend doing, which only delayed the progress and consideration of the petition. So, we come to the petition with those bits of information in front of us.
PE2147, lodged by Laura Jones on behalf of the Scottish Tenants Organisation, seeks to create more women-only homeless accommodation that protects and meets the specific needs of women. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to reform homeless services in Scotland, and to ensure that services protect women from sexual assault and exploitation, by increasing funding and supporting the creation of more women-only homeless accommodation.
The petitioner tells us that increasing numbers of women are being placed in unsuitable hotel and bed-and-breakfast emergency accommodation, with little consideration for the specific challenges and risks that that poses for women. The petitioner is concerned in particular about the risk of sexual assault and exploitation that women face when placed in temporary emergency accommodation.
As the SPICe briefing notes, although local authorities have a duty to assess anyone in their area who is applying as homeless and to provide temporary accommodation in certain circumstances, the Scottish Government has a policy to reduce the use of temporary accommodation. The briefing also highlights Scottish Government homelessness statistics for the period between April and September 2024, which indicate that hostels and bed and breakfast accommodation accounted for 24 per cent of temporary homeless accommodation.
10:15In its response to the petition, the Scottish Government recognises that women’s experiences of homelessness are very different to men’s experiences, and the response to women’s housing needs should therefore also be different. The response draws our attention to the temporary accommodation standards framework, which was published in April 2023 and aims
“to ensure that any time spent in temporary accommodation causes minimal harm.”
To achieve that, it aims to ensure that the accommodation is of good quality, safe, warm and affordable, and that standards are consistent across Scotland. The framework includes standards on support to access different types of accommodation, which are allocated based on gender, and provision of single-gender accommodation for households that are experiencing domestic abuse. The Scottish Government response also references the implementation of the equally safe strategy, which is aimed at preventing violence against women and girls and supporting survivors who have experienced such abuse. In the year ahead, the Government will invest £21.6 million in delivering the equally safe funding programme.
Members will also have noted from our papers that issues related to the petition have been raised as part of the Housing (Scotland) Bill and the Social Justice and Social Security Committee’s inquiry on financial considerations when leaving an abusive relationship.
This is the first time that we have considered the petition and I can see that we are joined in the gallery by those who might have an interest in it. Colleagues, do you have any suggestions as to how we might proceed?
I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Scottish Government to seek clarification on the funding that it has provided through the delivery of the equally safe fund or local government settlement, and to ask what specific contribution it has made to the provision of women-only homeless services and efforts to ensure that a consistent gender approach is taken to the allocation and supply of temporary accommodation.
I wonder whether it would also consider writing to the Government to ask when it expects the temporary accommodation standards framework to become legally enforceable.
That latter point is particularly important. You are nodding, Mr Choudhury.
I agree with Mr Torrance.
I agree. I am struck by the information that we have had from the petitioner and others about the gravity of the problem and the extent of the risk that those women are exposed to. In our papers, I note that Ash Regan’s work on the topic of hostel safety is referenced. She has referred to the need to “stop more women dying”. The Glasgow Times has run a campaign that highlights the issue.
Although the Scottish Government has said that funding has been provided, there is a lack of clarity about whether any of that funding will find its way to providing the solution that the petitioner wants. I agree with the approach that Mr Torrance has advocated, but we should specifically ask what will be done to address the issue this year—so as to elicit not a vague response of, “Money will be made available in a general way,” but what exactly will be done—otherwise we will be in the same position and no further.
I hope that I am not being unfair to the Government—needless to say, I never wish to do that—but my concern is that women’s homelessness is one of those issues on which we talk about spending huge amounts of money but nothing actually happens.
Thank you, Mr Ewing. That is all duly noted.
Mr Torrance’s recommendation is that we keep the petition open and pursue the issues as he has directed, which Mr Ewing has fleshed out. Are members content that we proceed on that basis?
Members indicated agreement.
We will keep the petition open and take it forward on that basis.
That brings us to the end of our public consideration of business.
10:19 Meeting continued in private until 10:32.Previous
Continued Petitions