Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 02 February 2022
The consultation on the matter runs until the end of March. We want to ensure that we get it right, and we want to prevent more homelessness at an earlier stage, so that people do not have to face the trauma and disruption that it brings to their lives. The proposals will strengthen the range of homelessness rights and will not change any existing rights to housing. The proposal on suitable and stable housing is about widening the range of housing options that are available to people who are at risk of homelessness.
I am happy to write to Miles Briggs with more detail about that, but the consultation is open. We are having the consultation to ensure that we get it right.
The prevention review group that we established in late 2019 provided a thoughtful set of recommendations last year. The full package of recommendations informed the proposals in the joint Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities consultation that was published in December.
Strengthening existing powers and changing the way that we work in order to prevent homelessness before it occurs are key to addressing the challenges in the future and will make us a leader in the United Kingdom in homelessness prevention duties. The right to permanent accommodation for people who are homeless in Scotland provides the strong foundation on which we can build. Our commitment is not to change established rights but to provide legislative change that helps to create a society in which fewer people become homeless in the first place.
We propose introducing new duties on public bodies to “ask and act” to prevent homelessness, so that prevention of homelessness is no longer the sole responsibility of local authority housing departments. We know, for example, that there is often increased engagement with health services before a person becomes homeless. We must get better at identifying such crisis points to ensure that every single risk of homelessness that can be prevented is prevented. That reflects the move to a “no wrong door” approach, so that the risk of homelessness is acted on regardless of the service that is first approached.
There are also new duties proposed for landlords, including in relation to domestic abuse, which continues to be the main reason for homelessness among women.
The proposals do not stop there. They also aim to make changes to existing homelessness legislation to ensure that local authority housing departments are able to act sooner—up to six months before homelessness might occur.