Crisis Scotland Report on Ending Homelessness Through Public Service Reform

That the Parliament welcomes Crisis Scotland’s new report, Changing Course: delivering a preventative approach to ending homelessness through public service reform; notes the report's finding that rough sleeping rose by 20% last year, that record numbers of households are in temporary accommodation at a cost of over £160 million annually, and that acute healthcare use by people with experience of homelessness generates £900 million in demand; recognises the view that dealing with homelessness at the point of crisis is the wrong approach, with people moved between A&E, police custody and emergency accommodation while the root causes go unresolved; notes that the new Ask and Act duties in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 will place duties on public bodies to spot the risk early and act on it together; further notes the independent analysis by Alma Economics, which found that investing £100 million in the 2027-28 Budget, followed by £35 million to £38 million a year, could avoid between £76 million and £82 million in net costs to public services in the years after the duties commence; welcomes the Scottish Government’s extension of the homelessness prevention pilots, including in Wester Hailes, where, it understands, people are already being supported to keep their homes; notes the view of Crisis Scotland that a delivery plan across government is now needed so that every public body is ready when the duties come into force by November 2028, and pays tribute to the people with lived experience of homelessness for their contribution to shaping effective approaches to homelessness prevention.