Homelessness Prevention Task and Finish Group: final report and recommendations

Conclusion

As we stand on the threshold of the introduction of the Housing Bill to the Scottish Parliament, it is important to be clear about the potentially transformative impact that the homelessness prevention duties could enable. In putting prevention at the heart of how we tackle homelessness, the new duties have the potential to not only live up to the preventative vision set out by the Christie Commission over a decade ago, but to be genuinely world leading. These duties, if implemented successfully, can transform the way we support people experiencing housing crisis, and in turn can transform lives.

But the duties’ success is not guaranteed, and this report sets out the key elements that are needed to ensure and maximise their success: cross-sector culture change and leadership, a shared belief that no-one should experience homelessness after leaving the support of any public body, long-term resourced plans and full logistical and financial support for public bodies, and the continuation (and even increase) of house building, acquisition and updating.

If Scotland is able to make these changes, backed with new legislation and national guidance, and the ability to learn as we grow, as a nation, we can expect to make real and lasting differences to the lives of people across our communities.

It isn’t that people are experiencing homelessness because they want to, but because we have broken systems, or systems that don’t speak with one another. It is because there is an acceptance by some that it is okay, and it is because our housing provisions don’t meet the needs of an ever-evolving range of people, household types and ways of living.

Everyone who has been around the tables as this work has progressed looks forward to being a part of the new and exciting chapters ahead, as we move from 2023 into a future where people in Scotland can live free from the injustice of homelessness for good.