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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)

Marion Gibbs (Scottish Government) Watch on SPTV

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Our data collection is comprehensive. I am sure that Sarah Boyack has seen the publications, but we can extract and cross-reference data so, if there are any particular areas that she wants to examine, she can get in contact with us through the minister at any time and we will get some information to her. I back up what the minister said about the increase in temporary accommodation. It is interesting that applications did not increase during the early part of the pandemic, but a lot of people required to be provided with temporary accommodation because no alternative was available to them. For example, they might have stayed with family or friends, but they could not do that because of the way that lockdown happened. That is why we had a natural increase in temporary accommodation during that time, which does not correlate with the number of applications coming in. That is an important thing to consider in relation to people being helped. On the point about failure to accommodate, Glasgow City Council was the main local authority that was unable to or did not provide temporary accommodation, but it has made a huge jump. From October, it has had no failures to provide temporary accommodation, which is really important. With regard to information on the ground, our five housing options hubs throughout Scotland, of which all local authorities are members, had different frequencies of meeting before the pandemic. Because of the pandemic, we suggested that they meet more frequently, and they all took that up, so they are meeting fortnightly. That is an immense source for us to get information out to all local authorities very quickly, and for local authorities to tell us what is happening in their patches. Some local authorities have been doing innovative things such as working with universities to get temporary accommodation in order to cope with the increase. That is really important, as is having different models. An important thing to remember about the housing options hubs is that they are all about sharing experiences and learning from one other. They mean that we have a really good network of people in local authorities, who were all struggling with the main challenges that were coming to them and were having to cope in a completely different landscape. They have been able to share their experiences, learn from one other and respond innovatively at that point, which is really good. The minister mentioned the rapid rehousing transition plans. Local authorities tell us that, if they had not had the transition plans, which were put to us in December 2018 and therefore had a full year of implementation, they would not be where they are now in relation to recovery. The figures for people in temporary accommodation might look high, but it is not because local authorities are not meeting their duties; the figures show the opposite of that. Local authorities are meeting their duties and ensuring that people are supported, safe and secure during this period. I think that I have covered most of the points.

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Local Government and Communities Committee 10 February 2021

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