Question reference: S6W-22948
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 15 November 2023
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Current status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 29 November 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much each local authority has spent on people living in temporary accommodation, in each year since 1999.
Answer
The vast majority of homelessness funding provided to Scottish local authorities since 1999 has been included in the block grant of annual local government finance settlements [1] .
In February 2017, the ‘temporary accommodation management fee’ funding from the UK Government was devolved to the Scottish Government. In 2017-18, the Scottish Government allocated the full amount of £22.5 million provided through this arrangement to Scottish local authorities. Since 2018-19, Scottish local authorities have received an annual share of £23.5 million.
In 2023-24, this budget was augmented by a £7 million former Hostels Grant to create the new £30.5 million Homelessness Prevention Fund. Each local authority receives their annual share of this settlement through an in-year transfer.
It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. It is therefore not possible for the Scottish Government to ascertain how much each local authority spends each year on temporary accommodation.
[1] Local government finance circulars - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)