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1. Introduction
1.1 This bulletin presents statistics on applications made to Scottish local authorities for assistance under the Homeless Persons legislation from the mid-90s to 2004-05. The number of applications, together with detailed analyses of how local authorities have assessed and dealt with cases, is provided at both national and local authority level, including data on households in temporary accommodation. The main focus of this bulletin is on the changing patterns of applications and the characteristics of applicant households, as well as the outcomes of applications.
1.2 The statistics presented relate to applications made under the legislation as well as individual households, In December 2001, the Scottish Executive changed the data collection system for the case-based HL1 return to provide more detailed information on applications by individual households and to allow more timely reporting. This entailed changing to an electronic data capture system which allows cases to be registered and updated on a continuous basis, as well as enabling applications made by the same household to be linked. Due to the live nature of the data collection system, figures are updated on a continuous basis and the information published here may differ from that published previously.
Note: Assessment figures for 2004-05 exclude cases which have not been assessed by the end of the period. For applications made in 2004-05, there were 2,718 cases which had not been assessed by the end of the period.
1.3 Given the continuous nature of the new recording system, the analyses reported in this bulletin refer to data from the time period relevant to the analysis. In some cases this might be the year of application, while in others this might relate to the year in which the assessment was made or action taken. Data prior to December 2001 are reported by year of application only, as are any time series data. Detailed statistical notes on the collection of this information are provided in section 5. All years reported are financial years.
1.4 Prior to December 2001, returns were paper-based and submitted once the case had been closed. Basic data on numbers of applications were collected through the quarterly summary HL2 return in the first instance, which also provides snapshot information on households in temporary accommodation. The HL1 case-based return provided more detailed information on the characteristics of applicants, local authority responses and housing outcomes, but this was only available after the case had been closed, leading to significant lags in reporting time and loss of data in some cases. Discrepancies between the application levels recorded by the HL1 and HL2 returns were dealt with by grossing up the information from the case returns to the total number of applications made as recorded on the HL2 return. In many cases, the national figures quoted are therefore estimates. Further details are provided in section 5.
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