Question reference: S6W-26735
- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 8 April 2024
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Current status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting local authorities to ensure that there is sufficient staff to invest in a significant scaling up of the prevention of homelessness activity.
Answer
The Scottish Government wants to see a renewed focus on the prevention of homelessness and this is underlined by the inclusion of the homelessness prevention provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Bill, introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 26 March 2024.
Alongside this, we published a Financial Memorandum which set out estimated costs for the provisions included within the Bill. This was informed by a survey of local authorities on the potential resource implications of the changes.
We will work with local authorities to develop the supporting guidance and training necessary to make the duties successful and to discuss the most appropriate timing of implementation against the background of a challenging environment.