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Local Government and Communities Committee 10 February 2021

10 Feb 2021 · S5 · Local Government and Communities Committee

Item of business

Subordinate Legislation

Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) (Modification and Revocation) (Coronavirus) Order 2021 (SSI 2021/10)

Stewart, Kevin SNP Aberdeen Central Watch on SPTV

There were a huge number of questions there, but I would expect nothing less from Ms Boyack. I will bring in Marion Gibbs to describe some of the detail of what we are doing. During the pandemic, there has been a rise in the number of households that have required temporary accommodation. The number is beginning to drop again, but we need to keep a close eye on that. Sarah Boyack asked whether we are gathering data from individual local authorities, and the answer is yes. We get a weekly report on what is going on out there. I have to be honest and say that, at points, some local authorities have not managed to report because they have been dealing with cases. However, members can be assured that I look carefully at that. Marion Gibbs might want to say more about it. Sarah Boyack is right to point out that prevention is immensely important. The work of folk on the front line and the actions of housing hubs are so important in getting this right for people. At various points during the pandemic, there has been much better multi-agency working than we have had before in order to get things right for people and protect them. We recognise that, as we come out of the pandemic, local authorities will need to adapt. They must be given time to adapt, and we have provided resource to help with that. We have put in an additional £5 million for rapid rehousing transition plans, recognising that things have changed and that some of the things that local authorities are doing will need to be refined in order to get it right for people. A combination of things will be required: we will need to continue to look at the data to ensure that the numbers are going down, to provide local authorities with a resource to enable them to move to rapid rehousing transition, and to monitor all of that as we go along. We are talking about the unsuitable accommodation order, but I have been keeping a close eye on the failure-to-accommodate numbers, which are just as important, if not more so. Members will remember that the numbers in Glasgow were high prior to the pandemic—I was in constant communication with Glasgow City Council about that. However, due to the flexibilities to enable us to get it right for people, in the most recent statistics that I saw, Glasgow City Council had accommodated everyone. There was no failure to accommodate at all, which is immense. I send plaudits to the folk in Glasgow for achieving that, because it is a big shift from where they were previously. If you do not mind, convener, I will bring in Marion Gibbs on the data collection aspects and anything else that she wants to add.

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Local Government and Communities Committee 10 February 2021

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