Scottish Government overview Marion Gibbs

Background Scotland has strong homelessness legislation Homelessness etc (S) Act homelessness “target” –By December 2012 all unintentionally homeless households entitled to settled accommodation –Basically changing legislation to remove the distinction between “priority” and “non-priority”

2009 Interim target set for 2009 Following this – how to get to 2012? Set up the SG/COSLA Joint 2012 Steering Group SG, COSLA, SOLACE, ALACHO and SFHA

2012 Group Corporate buy-in Prevention of homelessness Access to RSL stock and the PRS Investing in appropriate areas

Prevention Guidance issued in 2009 Looking at the needs of particular groups Development of housing options approaches England further advanced but Scotland beginning to look at this

Housing Options Not process driven (completing homelessness application and it being assessed and decision made) To outcome focused (what is the most sustainable and appropriate outcome for household) Homelessness legislation a crucial safety net

Housing Options hubs Five LA-led Housing Options hubs across Scotland – geographically split All 32 LAs are included Established in 2010 with some SG funding

Hub activity Frequent meetings Sharing practice Jointly commissioning joint training Research - PRS IT solutions Benchmarking

Wider sharing Quarterly hub “leads” seminars – opportunity to share progress, highlight particular pieces of work, get presentations from other agencies National seminar – around 100 attendees SG goes to majority of hub meetings

Health Health and Homelessness Standards since 2005 Recent renewed activity NHS Health Scotland – roundtable Health and Social Care Integration – opportunities

Contact details Marion Gibbs – Environment/Housing/homelesshttp:// Environment/Housing/homeless