Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Official Report 804KB pdf

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Homelessness

The next item of business is a statement by Kevin Stewart on ending homelessness together. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.

14:53  

Presiding Officer, I thank you for the opportunity to set out our ambitious plans to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.

In recent years, we have made significant progress in preventing homelessness by helping people before they reach a crisis. The number of homelessness applications has fallen by more than a third since 2010, with fewer families in unsuitable temporary accommodation. However, we cannot be complacent. Everyone in the chamber and across Scotland has seen the rise in the number of people who are sleeping rough. Frankly, it is unacceptable in a country as wealthy as ours, and we are simply not willing to accept it.

In our programme for government, the First Minister set a clear objective of eradicating rough sleeping. She also committed to renewing and redoubling our efforts to prevent and reduce homelessness by establishing a homelessness and rough sleeping action group, creating an ending homelessness fund of £50 million over a five-year period and investing an additional £20 million in alcohol and drug services.

One of the most important pieces of legislation that the Parliament has passed is the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003. I am proud of the fact that Scotland has some of the strongest rights for homeless people in the world, helping many people who become homeless back into settled accommodation and a stable home life.

In the past few years, much has been achieved. There has been a 39 per cent drop in the number of homelessness applications since 2010, and there have been fewer families in unsuitable temporary accommodation such as bed-and-breakfast accommodation. This Government has also invested heavily to ensure that Scotland has a new generation of affordable housing, with 69,000 affordable homes delivered, an end to the right to buy and more homes on the way. All those things help to provide warm, affordable homes and to reduce homelessness. Nevertheless, more needs to be done to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. We need to recognise the causes and to address them, too.

We know that the United Kingdom Government’s programme of welfare cuts is making things much worse. We have heard the evidence of that from homeless people, from charities, and—just last week—from the UK’s National Audit Office, which concluded that the rise in homelessness across the UK is linked to the UK Government’s welfare cuts.

From the freeze on benefits to the benefit cap, and from the changes to the local housing allowance to the imposition of the bedroom tax, a series of harsh cuts have been made to the support that people on low incomes rely on to keep a roof over their heads. The deliberate six-week delay before people get the first universal credit payment will make life even harder for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

The choices—they are choices—that the UK Government has made are not just morally wrong but economically wrong. Pushing people into crisis—into homelessness—impacts on public and charitable services and serves as a barrier to those who are seeking to work or to keep a permanent tenancy. Councils and third sector organisations provide life-saving and vital support, but we want to do more to support what works and to ensure that there is the joined-up approach that people need. The time is right to build on our strengths and raise our ambitions. We must work together to ensure that our homelessness services have good links to other services, particularly mental health and addiction services.

The £20 million that was announced in the programme for government for drug and alcohol services will boost capacity in the system. Close joint working across housing, social care and health will be crucial in maximising those additional resources to ensure that the money supports those people with the most acute need for joined-up support.

Also important is our commitment to transform the use of temporary accommodation, ensuring that that vital safety net works as well as possible for those who need it. We want our system to be a safety net that provides high-quality, safe temporary accommodation for those who need it in a crisis. To that end, from October, following parliamentary scrutiny, we will reduce the time that households with children and pregnant women spend in unsuitable accommodation.

Our commitment to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over the course of this session of Parliament will also play a significant part in reducing homelessness, but we know that housing itself is only part of the solution for many people. To meet more complex needs, all our services must be better aligned. Ensuring stronger links between housing, mental health services, justice, addictions services, children’s and young people’s policies and the care system will be essential to that endeavour. That work is crucial if we are to improve prevention and to deliver better outcomes for those who feel that they are stuck in a cycle of homelessness and poverty.

To achieve our aims and ambitions, as stated in the programme for government, we are taking forward two major initiatives. First, we are creating an ending homelessness together fund of £50 million over five years to support homelessness prevention initiatives and to pilot solutions to deliver results. That substantial increase in funding demonstrates our absolute determination to tackle homelessness as a crucial part of building a fairer Scotland.

Secondly, we will establish a short-term homelessness and rough sleeping action group to lead change and improvement in that area of work. It will develop recommendations for actions, services and legislative changes that are required to end rough sleeping and transform the use of temporary accommodation.

I am pleased to announce today that the chair of the group will be Jon Sparkes, the chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis. I recently met him and we agreed that there are four questions for the group to consider. What can we do to minimise rough sleeping this winter? What can we do to eradicate rough sleeping for good? What can we do to transform temporary accommodation? What can be done to end homelessness in Scotland? The group, which will first meet in early October, will draw its membership from the public sector, the third sector, social enterprise and academic experts in the area. Jon Sparkes and I are clear that the group will be focused on solutions.

We will also ensure that the findings of the Local Government and Communities Committee’s inquiry into homelessness are taken into account both in the context of the rapid work that is to be undertaken by the homelessness and rough sleeping action group and in the longer-term work of the homelessness prevention and strategy group. The committee’s exploration of people’s experiences of accessing homelessness services and the underlying issues that can contribute to housing problems will be valuable in developing the solutions that are needed to achieve our collective ambitions.

During my time as a minister, I have spoken to people who have experienced homelessness and to housing professionals, and it is clear to me that, to achieve our aim, we need services that really place the person at the centre and treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve. That is why I have asked Jon Sparkes to ensure that talking to people with direct personal experience of homelessness is central to the new group’s work.

The role of councils will also be crucial. Helping people to access their rights requires commitment from all levels of government, particularly against the background of austerity and welfare reform. We will, therefore, continue to work positively and closely with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and councils through the existing homelessness prevention and strategy group, which is jointly chaired by the Scottish Government and COSLA, to understand how we can support councils to fulfil their statutory duties on homelessness and how we can go even further to realise our ambitions.

The process of eradicating rough sleeping and tackling homelessness is about individuals. It is about their fears and challenges but also their hopes and aspirations. It is the right thing to do for those individuals, for our communities and for all our futures. We have a huge opportunity to build on existing strengths and to learn from successes such as the housing first approach and multi-agency partnerships in taking action to reduce homelessness and improve outcomes for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. It is an opportunity that we must seize, channelling the determination, wealth of ideas and passion on the issue that exist across Scotland to make lasting change. Success will rely on all of us working together across the homelessness sector and more widely to take focused action and drive relentless progress towards achieving our ambition.

The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement.

I thank the minister for providing advance sight of his statement. His conversion to a sort of national strategy is long overdue. Homelessness is a major issue that concerns us all, and it should not be happening in modern Scotland. Shelter Scotland claims that a household in Scotland becomes homeless every 19 minutes, which is a shocking statistic. We have a homelessness crisis, and preventing homelessness will save money in the long term.

I welcome the minister’s commitment to work with the Local Government and Communities Committee, which is carrying out an inquiry into homelessness, and I welcome the formation of the action group, which is certainly a start. However, can the minister say who else is on the group? Will Shelter be there? If not, why not? How was the £50 million figure arrived at? How long will the group run for and when will it report? If the group meets first in October, how will it make even the slightest dent on rough sleeping this winter? Although cutting the time that people spend in temporary accommodation would be most welcome, what is the target for that?

There are a number of questions in that. I will start with the reason for the group. It is about taking action on rough sleeping and homelessness as soon as possible. Mr Sparkes and I are clear that one of the first questions that must be answered is what we will do during the upcoming winter to support folk who are currently sleeping rough, to ensure that they are all right and to ensure that the current shelters are able to deal with all the difficulties that folk face.

As the name suggests, the group is a short-term action group. Mr Sparkes is as determined as I am to get answers to the questions as soon as possible. The group will report back in the middle of next year.

As I pointed out in my statement, the group will be made up of a number of individuals from across different areas who deal with homelessness. They will be from public bodies, the third sector and academia, and there will also be folk who have lived experience of homelessness. The group will encompass a wide range of knowledge and views. I assure Parliament that we will announce its membership as soon as we have confirmed that everyone who is being asked to join it can take part in it.

I welcome much of the minister’s statement. It is about time that there was a national strategy on homelessness. We will work with the Government 100 per cent to halt the roll-out of universal credit and the six-week delay. We are with the minister on that, but not all the figures are going the right way. Homelessness applications for applicants who slept rough the night before are up 10 per cent. Does the minister accept that rough sleeping is going up, not down? Night shelters report that there has been a 94 per cent increase in their use in the past two years and charities are playing the role that Government should play. Does the minister accept that addressing rough sleeping must be a priority?

I welcome in the statement the role outlined for local authorities, which is crucial. However, the minister, I am sure, recognises that local authority budgets have been cut by £1.5 billion since 2011 and by £170 million only last year. Will he commit to protecting local authority budgets, which are stretched, to deliver on homelessness? Without local authorities, we cannot deliver.

I welcome whole-heartedly—

You must close, Ms McNeill.

—the comment on the housing first model. I hope that the minister will report back on that as soon as possible.

I welcome Ms McNeill’s and the Labour Party’s support on universal credit. Having to wait six weeks for any payment could destroy people and their families. The UK Government has much to answer for in its welfare reform proposals. They have been extremely damaging, as the National Audit Office report, which highlights the fact that, initially, the Department for Work and Pensions did no analysis of the impact of housing benefit reform, shows. Subsequent research commissioned by the UK Government at the instigation of Opposition parties did not establish how many of the households that are now homeless would not have been homeless had it not been for those reforms, so the analysis was probably not worth doing. I urge members to read the National Audit Office report, which is damning about the UK Government’s situation.

Will you hurry along, please, minister?

There are many areas to cover, but I turn to the housing first approach. That approach has worked in Glasgow and is working in other areas now. Joined-up working, which is not termed as housing first, is also working extremely well. We should learn from those exemplars and do what we can to ensure that local authorities have the knowledge to instigate housing first and other such schemes in their areas.

We are pushed for time—we have less than 15 minutes. Unless people are succinct, folk will be missed out.

Turning Point Scotland is actively involved in piloting the housing first model and, according to its initial evaluations, 50 per cent of participants have demonstrated positive change. How can the Scottish Government assist in potentially upscaling the housing first model? That would involve significant upfront expense but, in the longer term, it might improve outcomes and save public money.

As Mr Doris rightly points out, upscaling the housing first model is being piloted in Glasgow, where it is to replace supported accommodation. We will look at the experiences there and elsewhere in Scotland where the model is being trialled and our decisions will be informed by those experiences.

One of the most interesting things that is going on at the moment is the analysis that is being undertaken in Renfrewshire of the costs of implementing the housing first model, which I think will show that it is a spend-to-save proposal that will save money for the public purse. Beyond that, it will get things right for individuals who need that help. This is not just about the cost to the public purse, but about the human cost of not doing this properly.

The role of councils will be crucial in this process. What can the minister say to reassure us that front-line staff will be trained and given the resources that they need to assist them with prevention?

As part of our on-going housing options work to spread the wealth of knowledge and to export best practice, the Government has committed to bringing forward a housing options toolkit, which will help front-line staff to deliver what is required for each individual.

Over the summer, I met a number of organisations, including youth organisations such as LGBT Youth Scotland’s homelessness commission and the aff the streets steering group to ensure that that toolkit contains the right information and that folk who work on the front line know of the experiences that they are likely to come across.

Beyond that, the key thing is to export good information and best practice. The housing options hubs are doing good work in that area. I would be happy to discuss that further with Mr Stewart when he meets me tomorrow.

The minister will be aware that homelessness can often be a hidden problem in remote and rural areas, where we might not see as many rough sleepers but things such as sofa surfing are a huge problem, particularly for young people. Will the minister confirm that the ending homelessness together fund pilots and initiatives will take into consideration the unique challenges of rural homelessness?

The short-term action group will consider a range of issues relating to rough sleeping and homelessness, drawing on all the available evidence and the views of people with direct experience of homelessness.

I recognise the particular challenges of rural homelessness. Homelessness exists in rural areas but is often not as visible as it often is in urban areas. One of the key priorities for the group and for the fund is to help to address the complex issues that we face no matter where we are in Scotland. I assure Ms Ross that the group will certainly consider the issue that she raises and will be getting to grips with the problem of hidden homelessness, including sofa surfing.

I am pleased that the minister has recognised the work that the Local Government and Communities Committee has undertaken.

The number of children in temporary accommodation increased by 16 per cent last year. What plans does the Scottish Government have to ensure that that number does not increase further?

One family or one pregnant woman in unsuitable accommodation is one too many for me. At the moment, 82 per cent of families or pregnant women in temporary accommodation are housed in the social rented sector and do not have to rely on other means, and I want to see that figure increase—82 per cent is not good enough. The action group will look at that in some depth.

As I said in my statement, we are going to bring forward changes to the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2014, which will reduce the limit on the use of inadequate temporary accommodation from 14 days to seven days. The changes will be under parliamentary scrutiny in October and we should initiate them quite quickly after that.

I know that Ms Smith has a great interest in the issue. I have previously met her to discuss it and I am more than willing to do so again if she wants to talk in further depth.

In his statement, the minister reminded us of the commitment to deliver 50,000 affordable homes, which he claimed will play

“a significant part in reducing homelessness.”

Given that there are more than 100,000 people on housing waiting lists, will he explain precisely what part the 50,000 homes will play in reducing homelessness?

I remind the chamber that not everyone who is on a waiting list at the moment is homeless. People are on waiting lists for various reasons, such as for a transfer to increase or reduce the number of bedrooms in their housing.

Over the piece, since taking office, this Government has delivered 69,000 affordable homes. The target of 50,000 affordable homes—35,000 of which will be for social rent—has been recognised as the most ambitious house-building programme since the 1980s. We have put our money where our mouth is in that regard, with investment of more than £3 billion in the course of this parliamentary session. We will do all that we can to increase the supply.

I ask folks to remember that not everyone who is on a waiting list is homeless.

Will the minister give an assurance that the push to reduce temporary accommodation will not be at the expense of people with issues that should be addressed in advance of their finding a permanent home, such as debt, ill health or their leaving an abusive relationship, and that we will not be replicating the conditions in certain areas of England where someone cannot refuse an offer of suitable settled accommodation?

That is a very interesting question and my initial response is yes. Although we want time in temporary accommodation to be as short as possible, I have been clear that the time there needs to be used positively to identify appropriate sustainable solutions.

I will give an example. We have probably all had constituency cases of people who have gone into temporary accommodation in social housing and been made an offer of permanent accommodation elsewhere that is not suitable to their needs because if they moved into it they would miss out on the family support that they require or because of other issues.

It would be wrong for us to set a limit on the amount of time in temporary accommodation. It is important that we find the right solution for families and take cognisance of what they have to say, rather than follow the English line that Mr MacGregor spoke about.

Does the minister believe that spending just £10 million for the ending homelessness together fund, out of a £31.5 billion Scottish budget, is really the step change that we need to end homelessness?

I have just mentioned the £3 billion that we are investing in housing over this parliamentary session; the £10 million per year—£50 million—is additional money. Substantial sums are already spent on homelessness throughout Scotland. If memory serves me well, at the Glasgow homelessness summit, it was estimated that something like £73 million was being spent on homelessness. The £10 million per year is additional money.

We are putting our money where our mouth is. We have established the action group and we have put a budget in place before it has met. That shows our ambition to eradicate rough sleeping and to ensure that temporary accommodation becomes better.

Will the minister outline his response to reports that half of all council tenants in receipt of universal credit across 105 local authorities are in housing arrears and say how that will impact on future homelessness?

I thank Ms Gilruth for that question. I refer members to the National Audit Office report that was published last week that quite clearly shows that the daft, morally wrong welfare reforms are having a major effect on people right across the country. The issue is not just universal credit, because we have had the bedroom tax, which we managed to mitigate, and a number of other areas of business where, quite frankly, the UK Government has failed in its duties.

Beyond that, the UK Government knows that it is wrong because it will not analyse properly what it is doing; it just says, “Let’s follow this policy line and beggar the consequences.” I think that that is unacceptable and I think that this Parliament and the people of Scotland do too. The sooner we have control over all benefits, the better.

I am delighted to be following that rant. Will there be a focus on pre-crisis intervention so that the potential for homelessness can be identified and addressed early? Will part of that require co-operation between Government departments?

If we are going to take a collective view on how to deal with homelessness, the Tory members should listen to what I have to say about social security. At the end of the day, a huge amount of the difficulties that we see across Scotland involve folks who have been hit with sanctions or who have had their benefits cut or capped. I attended a meeting in Glasgow earlier this year at which Glasgow City Council said that it was identifying those folks who have been hit with the benefit cap and are in the private housing sector to try to get them to move into the social housing sector in order for them not to have a crisis situation. It would be much better if the benefit cap was not in place, because that would mean that neither Glasgow City Council nor other services would have to pick up the pieces made by the Tories.

We come to the last question, which is from Ben Macpherson—fairly quickly, please.

Will the homelessness and rough sleeping action group examine particular housing challenges that exist here in Edinburgh, including the increasingly harmful impact of UK Government welfare cuts?

I thank Mr Macpherson for his question and I know that he has taken a great interest in the issue of homelessness in Edinburgh. I am very pleased to be able to speak at a reception that he is hosting tonight for the Rock Trust. The short-term action group will identify actions required on rough sleeping and homelessness across Scotland, as I have said before. We will draw on all the research and evidence available to find solutions. We know that there are particular challenges in our big cities, including Edinburgh, and that that has led to the council and its partners, such as in health, working together to develop innovative and positive practice here in Edinburgh, particularly for those with more complex needs. Beyond that, we have seen initiatives such as the Social Bite village come to fruition here, and the new group will help to identify what new practice exists. As I said earlier, it will try to export that best practice right across the country. I hope that members will see real differences quickly from the work that the action group will be doing.

That concludes questions on the minister’s statement on ending homelessness together. Before we move on to the next item of business, I will give everyone a minute or so to change their seats as appropriate.