(26) Those responsible for prisoners, looked after children, long stay hospital patients and the armed forces should develop high quality housing and homelessness advice services with support from Communities Scotland. Standards for these advice services should be set and monitored within the appropriate regulatory regime for each type of institution. Local authorities should ensure that appropriate linkages are being made between services in institutions and services in the community. |
RAG status: Amber | Delivery contact: Communities Scotland, SPS, SEED, MoD, SEHD |
Progress to date: - For details on the services being provided please see recommendations 27 (looked after children), 28 (prisons), 30 (armed forces) and 42 (hospital).
- HomePoint, part of Communities Scotland, provides support and information to advice provider agencies including prisons outreach projects and the armed forces. This support includes the development of a model framework for the provision of user centred advice. The model 'Scottish National Standards and Good Practice Guidance for Housing Information and Advice Services' defines organisational standards for the delivery of an advice service with performance indicators and good practice guidance on meeting them. The model also clearly defines core competence for advisors and the knowledge base they require to advise in the 19 areas of housing law defined by the advice sector.
- Communities Scotland Regeneration Division has been working to identify the best way it may support standards in this area. Contact with regulators of these services suggests that support to service providers in identifying their progress against standards will be the most appropriate way to take this forward. For example, contacts between Communities Scotland and the Care Commission as regulators in this area highlighted the Commission's interest in a care service where looked after children receive support and a duty to regulate offender accommodation services. The Care Commission uses National Care Standards for Housing Support Services to monitor the quality of housing support services as they describe what individuals can expect from the service provider.
- Communities Scotland has been involved in exploratory discussions with some local authorities about common assessment procedures on prison discharge and has become a proactive member of the Veterans Programme Scotland Steering Group as an agency housing support and information provider. Consideration is being given to ways of encouraging adoption of the "Scottish National Standards & Good Practice Guidance from Housing Information and Advice Services" by prison outreach projects, armed forces and other "institutional" organisations.
- Communities Scotland contributed to a seminar in November 2005 on housing advice services for prisoners. The audience of representatives of local authorities, Scottish Prison Service and voluntary sector agencies were encouraged to adopt a consistent approach to delivering effective and efficient advice services. The consensus was that the Scottish National Standards for Housing Information and Advice Services was the quality framework that should be adopted.
- Scottish Executive commissioning research on effectiveness of prevention activity, including role of advice and information services.
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Action required & by whom: |
- Communities Scotland to develop further contact with service providers in the relevant areas identified in the recommendation to ensure progress against National Standards. Communities Scotland and Scottish Executive to identify the appropriate role of the agency to further progress the recommendation in context of developments in each policy area (prisons, looked after children, etc).
- Scottish Executive to commission research into prevention.
- For specific actions relating to the different client groups see the recommendations referred to above.
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Key milestones: - See milestones identified at recommendations 27, 28, 30 and 42.
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(27) The statutory obligation to provide aftercare should extend to all children who have spent 6 months or more in the care of the local authority between their twelfth birthday and school leaving age. All looked after children should receive appropriate housing advice, including advice on what to do in a crisis, before leaving care. The Looked After Children assessment and action records should be revised to check that this advice has been given and understood, and that future housing intentions are sustainable. Regular checks should be made on the housing circumstances of those leaving care for a period of at least 2 years. Contingency arrangements should be in place for dealing with emergencies or near emergencies and the careleaver should be aware of them. There should be a standard national form for recording the initial and subsequent housing locations of care leavers for at least 2 years after leaving care. Local authorities' homelessness strategies should seek to identify measures which can be taken, in the light of our comments, to reduce the risk of homelessness among those with a care background. |
RAG status: Amber | Delivery contact: SEED: Looked After Children & Youthwork |
Progress to date: - Regulations and Guidance on Supporting Young People Ceasing to be Looked After came into force on 1 April 2004. Regulations state that the young people's assessments and plans must set out what kind of accommodation best meets the needs of the young person and how this is to be obtained.
- Assessment materials to enable authorities to undertake this were sent to all authorities in April 2004 and training has been provided by the Executive on the Regulations.
- Statistics are collected yearly on the destination and accommodation arrangements of those leaving care over school age, including number of moves and periods of homelessness. The 2005 Children Looked After Statistics show that the percentage of care leavers still in touch with Local Authorities who were known to have had an episode of homelessness since leaving care fell by 4 percentage points to 11 per cent in 2004/05. In addition the Audit Commission will have a statutory performance indicator which will require authorities to track and keep in touch with young people leaving care over school age up to the age of 19, and up to 21 for those for whom the authority continues to provide a service.
- The Executive's working group on throughcare and aftercare of looked after young people ( TAWG, now disbanded) advised that the recommendation to provide aftercare to a much wider range of formerly looked after children would raise a number of practical and financial issues, and may not be feasible. The working group were of the opinion that the new Regulations would be challenging and would need time to bed in before thought could be given to widening the age range. A meeting of Lead Implementation Officers ( LIOs) - officers from each local authority who are charged with implementing the Regulation - on 22 February 2005 confirmed this view; a further LIO seminar took place in November 2005 and their view remained the same.
- Strategies assessment process includes check as to whether vulnerable groups are adequately catered for.
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Action required & by whom: - Local authorities to comply with statutory duties by completing assessment and ensuring access to appropriate housing.
- Scottish Executive considering how best to monitor the implementation of the Regulations.
- Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum run a website providing policy and practice information and support authorities and voluntary organisations working with looked after young people (training, conferences, regional groups).
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Key milestones: - Regulations came into force April 2004.
- LIO seminars held on a regular basis.
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(28) On completion of the forthcoming evaluation, housing advice services currently provided in prisons should be put on a permanent footing. |
RAG status: Amber | Delivery contact: SPS, Scottish Executive Homelessness Team, Communities Scotland |
Progress to date: - Research by Reid Howie published in September 2004. All prisons now have housing advice services in place, although not all prisoners have access to these services. Most of the services are delivered through prison 'Links Centres'.
- Discussions are ongoing among Scottish Executive, SPS, local authorities and Communities Scotland about how these services can be put on a permanent footing. A symposium on the future of housing advice services in prisons was held in November 2005, attended by 50 delegates from a wide range of bodies with experience and interest in the topic. The report of the symposium was published in April 2006. The main recommendations from the symposium were the creation of a national model of service based on a national minimum service level, standard procedures and monitoring arrangements; a contract-based service, exploring a regional approach with services contracted by Community Justice Authorities; and services should conform to the Scottish National Standards and Good Practice for Housing Information and Advice Services.
- See also recommendation 30.
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Action required & by whom: - Recommendations to be made to Ministers on proposals arising from the symposium.
- Scottish Executive, CoSLA and SPS to explore option of services being contracted by Community Justice Authorities from 2007/08, taking account of wider policy context of management of offenders and identifying role of HMIP, SPS and Communities Scotland as regulators of advice services.
- Scottish Executive and CoSLA to discuss future funding arrangements for services in context of planned amalgamation of homelessness funding streams scheduled for 2007/08.
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Key milestones: - Symposium on housing advice for prisoners held November 2005; report published April 2006.
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(30) In preparing their homelessness strategies, local authorities should take full account of the needs of those leaving the armed forces and their spouses or partners. Guidance for local authorities should stress that people due to leave the armed forces should be classified as threatened with homelessness where their licence to occupy service accommodation is due to expire and they have no other accommodation. Local authorities and other bodies which may come into contact with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness should have procedures in place to identify ex-servicemen/women amongst this group and to signpost the assistance available to them. Following evaluation the Ministry of Defence should extend the SPACES project to parts of Scotland where there are significant numbers of accessible contact points providing resettlement advice and assistance to those who have left the services. |
RAG status: Amber | Delivery contact: MoD |
Progress to date: - Strategies assessment process includes check as to whether vulnerable groups are adequately catered for. The revised HL1 contains a question on whether members of households applying as homeless have a history of armed service which will provide a useful evidence base for strategy development.
- Revised Code of Guidance on Homelessness published May 2005 and meets the terms of the recommendation. Revised guidance "Housing for People Leaving the Armed Forces" issued July 2005.
- Feasibility study to develop methods for assessing the nature, costs and extent of rough sleeping and homelessness amongst ex-service personnel was completed in September 2004. The Advisory Board for the study, on which the Scottish Executive is represented, is now considering the best way to take forward further studies, which will focus on informing policy and improving service provision.
- MOD's SPACES project staff are conversant with new Scottish legislation and policy and will tailor services accordingly for those resettling in Scotland. MoD has no plans to locate a SPACES project in Scotland, it will remain in Catterick as a focal point for all single Service leavers, wherever they wish to live in the UK. SPACES has also developed a satellite office within the Military Corrective Training Centre ( MCTC) in Colchester.
- ODPM are funding the building of a hostel in Aldershot for ex-service personnel - this will provide 25 self contained flats and training facilities focusing on life-skills for move-on.
- MOD has established supports at pre-discharge and point of discharge. These provide housing advice and accommodation placement for Service leavers and short-term supported accommodation for those identified at risk of homelessness immediately after leaving the Armed Forces. The Early Leavers Policy was introduced in April 2004, providing resettlement advice and sign-posting for Service leavers who are not entitled to the full Armed Forces resettlement package. As part of this new policy, MOD staff seek to identify those vulnerable to homelessness and refer them to specialised assistance. In April 2004, the Joint Service Housing Advice Office took on additional staff whose role is to educate Service personnel on the need to make civilian housing provision at an earlier stage in their career.
- A prison in-reach pilot in Scotland is ongoing - raising awareness amongst prison resettlement services of the additional assistance available from veterans' organisations.
- An awareness raising symposium was held in April 2005 and led to the establishment of a Veterans Programme (Scotland) Steering Group - this includes representatives from MoD, Scottish Executive, Communities Scotland, Veterans Scotland, Veterans Agency and a large number of ex-service benevolent organisations and is considering a wide range of issues including homelessness and appropriate accommodation for ex-service people.
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Action required & by whom: - Veterans Programme Scotland Steering Group to continue to consider accommodation needs of ex-service people.
- Homelessness Monitoring to analyse data from HL1 question on history of armed service and consider further action required.
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Key milestones: - Successful awareness raising conference held in Edinburgh - April 2005.
- Revised guidance "Housing for People Leaving the Armed Forces" issued July 2005.
- Veterans Programme Scotland Steering Group established July 2005. Representatives on the group come from Scottish Executive, Ministry of Defence and Veterans Scotland.
- Next meeting of the Veterans Programme Scotland Steering Group scheduled for August 2006.
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(31) Asylum seekers granted leave to remain in the UK should be offered alternative accommodation if they do not wish to stay in the accommodation funded under NASS arrangements. |
RAG status: Amber | Delivery contact: SE Homelessness Team |
Progress to date: - Section 7 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 ensures that homelessness applicants will not be deemed to have formed a local connection with a local authority merely because they were housed in NASS accommodation there. This will allow these applicants to apply to another local authority for assistance under the homelessness legislation if they so wish.
- Revised Code of Guidance published May 2005.
- Communities Scotland are checking the quality of accommodation offered to, and secured for, all homeless people as part of the inspection process (see recommendation 11)
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Action required & by whom: - Continued monitoring required.
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Key milestones: - Section 7 commenced January 2004
- Revised Code of Guidance published May 2005
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