Homelessness

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest annual homelessness statistics. (S7O-00311)

Homelessness figures remain far too high, which is why we are shifting our approach from crisis management to prevention and rapid rehousing. Through our £50 million homelessness prevention fund, the £115 million investment in discretionary housing payments, the £2 million fund to leave scheme and the delivery of 1,500 housing first tenancies, we are supporting people before they reach crisis point. Our investment of up to £4.9 billion will also support the delivery of 36,000 affordable homes.

With pressures rising across the United Kingdom, I urge the UK Government to scrap the local housing allowance freeze and its plans to defund councils to address home office policy failures.

Homelessness charities such as Crisis have warned that Scotland’s homelessness statistics will remain stubbornly high without considerable focus and investment in homelessness prevention. Does the cabinet secretary agree that that is necessary? Can she advise what the Scottish Government is doing to implement meaningful change in delivering homelessness prevention?

In my original answer I mentioned some of the work that we are doing. The reason that we are investing in homelessness prevention is to support people before they experience crisis. We do that through £30.5 million of prevention activity through the local government settlement, and we have made a record £115 million-worth of discretionary housing payments this year.

Paul McLennan will be well aware of the policies and provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 relating to the ask-and-act duty, which Crisis was absolutely pivotal in developing and ensuring were included in the legislation. I look forward to working with Crisis to ensure that the policy and legislation that we have passed on the ask-and-act duty come to fruition, are implemented, and have the impact that we all want them to have.