Question reference: S6W-25483
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 14 February 2024
-
Current status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 6 March 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will conduct a review of the impact of its decision to remove local connection requirements for accessing homelessness services.
Answer
It would be premature to review the impact until at least a year of official data is available to allow for a proper assessment of the impact of the legislative change. This data will be provided as part of the Scottish Government homelessness annual statistical publication in summer 2024. The data will inform a report on a formal review of the legislation, which will be shared with the Social Justice and Social Security Committee as per the commitment of Shona Robison, then Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, at her appearance before the Committee in November 2022.
There is also ongoing monitoring through a monitoring and evaluation framework which was co-produced with local authorities, third sector organisations and people with lived experience of homelessness. This captures the qualitative impact of the legislative change on homelessness services and is used by Scottish Government officials to monitor impact and address any emerging issues.