This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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£27 million for Housing Bill initiative to tackle homelessness
18/12/2000
New measures to tackle homelessness contained in the Housing Bill will be backed up by funding of £27 million, Social Justice Minister Jackie Baillie announced today.
The £27 million will be allocated to local authorities over the next three years, once the Housing Bill has been approved by the Parliament.
The new legislative measures were developed by the Homelessness Task Force, accepted by the Scottish Executive and have been included in the Housing Bill. They include:
- A duty on local authorities to produce strategies for preventing and alleviating homelessness;
- A duty to ensure that advice about homelessness and the prevention of homelessness is available free of charge;
- A duty to ensure that unintentionally homeless people in priority need are entitled to permanent accommodation;
- A basic package of rights, including enhanced advice and assistance and access to temporary accommodation for homeless people not assessed as being in priority need; and
- The extension of the period of threatened homelessness from 28 days to 2 months.
Announcing the funding Ms Baillie said:
"Tackling homelessness will continue to be high on our list of priorities. We believe everyone in Scotland should have a decent, secure home to live in.
"These new measures backed up by new resources will mean that local authorities will be able to put strategies in place to prevent and alleviate homelessness and provide a dramatic increase in the level of support for homeless people."
The Housing Bill will be introduced in Parliament tomorrow, Tuesday 19 December.
BACKGROUND
1. The Scottish Executive has pledged that by 2003 no one in Scotland should be forced to sleep rough.
2. The Executive has provided £42 million to the Rough Sleepers Initiative to address the problems and needs of people who sleep rough. This is being spent over five years on programmes throughout Scotland.
3. The Homelessness Taskforce, chaired by Jackie Baillie, began its work in August 1999. It produced an interim report in April 2000 which set out proposals for improvements to the legislative framework. The Taskforce has now moved on to its second phase of work with a more fundamental review of the causes of homelessness and possible remedies. It is expected to report in 2001.
4. The £27 million is new money made available following the Spending Review 2000.
News Release: SE3241/2000
18 Dec 2000