Question reference: S6W-01493
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 14 July 2021
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 July 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to include the number of children in homeless households across all of the data that is reported in the Homelessness in Scotland statistics series.
Answer
The Homelessness in Scotland statistics series reports data from the HL1 (homelessness applications), HL2 (snapshot temporary accommodation) and HL3 (placement level temporary accommodation) data collections.
Information on the number of children within the household applying for homelessness support and in temporary accommodation is currently collected and reported on through the HL1 and HL2 collections respectively.
Data is published in the Homelessness in Scotland statistics series. Data is published on a 6-monthly basis, with the most recent publication relating to the annual data for 2020-21. Table 15 of the latest publication reports the number of children in homelessness applications and Table 27 reports the number of children in temporary accommodation as at the end of a quarter. A link to the latest publication can be found here:
Homelessness in Scotland: 2020 to 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
An additional question was added to the HL3 data collection in 2019 to gather information on the number of children living in temporary accommodation placements. However, not all local authorities have so far been able to provide this information as there is a lead in time required to update local authority management information systems and data extraction processes. Scottish Government are continuing to work closely with local authorities to assist with the provision of this data and understand timescales for when this can be made available.