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Homelessness in Glasgow
09/10/2007
Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell is today expected to pay tribute to the hard work that has seen Glasgow's homelessness services transformed.
The Minister for Communities and Sport is due to speak at the Glasgow Homelessness Network (GHN) conference, 'A Problem Shared?…from city centre exclusion to local inclusion'.
The conference will look at the future direction of homelessness initiatives in Glasgow in light of the city's Hostels Reprovisioning Programme, which has seen outdated large-scale hostels closed and replaced with smaller, community-based facilities.
Mr Maxwell said:
"Glasgow is at the forefront of a historic change, marking a shift in how we will meet the housing and support needs of all homeless people in the future.
"The closures programme and the re-provisioning of services to homeless people in Glasgow has been a major undertaking. It marks the end of a period when homeless people with various health and social needs were put into warehouse-style accommodation with little or no prospect of moving on.
"We must move on from perceptions of homeless people as an isolated and ghettoised group living in inappropriate accommodation with little or no support. Re-provisioned services in Glasgow should and will be about recognising homeless people as individuals who are part of local communities.
"GHN has played a crucial role in articulating the voice of the voluntary sector and homeless people themselves within the Glasgow Homelessness Partnership.
"It is vital to the future of policy development that, as a Government, we are connected to the expertise and experience of GHN and the voluntary sector to help identify good practice and the remaining barriers for homeless people in Glasgow."
Margaret Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow Homelessness Network, said:
"Closing the large scale city council hostels and replacing them with more effective services is a major step on the way to a better local support system which will prevent homelessness, or tackle it quickly when it does happen.
"The Homelessness Network in the city really welcomes the opportunity for dialogue with the Minister about how the Scottish Government will help us to maintain the momentum of the ongoing programme to ensure that homelessness no longer leads to exclusion, isolation and danger in the city centre."
- 2007-08 will mark the completion of the Glasgow Hostels Reprovisioning Programme and the closure of the final large scale hostel for homeless men at James Duncan House.
- This has been a major undertaking to decommission hostels and reprovision services within Glasgow with funding provided by the Scottish Government to help achieve this. Progress has been monitored through quarterly reports against key performance indicators agreed with the Scottish Government.
- The programme has been led by the Glasgow Homelessness Partnership and achieved through unprecedented partnership working between government, the local authority, housing providers, social work, health and the voluntary sector. The recommendation for the hostels closure programme came in the Glasgow Street Review Team report of 2000.