Homelessness Prevention Task and Finish Group: final report and recommendations

Priority 3: Clarity on legislation

With a number of unanswered questions on the shape and detail of the legislation, planning for the Housing Bill at national and local levels is currently impossible. The group recognised a number of areas requiring clarity, as well as some that will be key as the bill progresses in terms of guidance.

Action 15: Clarity on the Housing Bill

• The Scottish Government need to provide clarity as soon as possible regarding which ‘Public Bodies’ the new duties will apply to, so that individuals and organisations working in those sectors can engage with the draft legislation. Specifically, it should clarify the role of public bodies which were not mentioned by the Prevention Review group report, such as Social Security Scotland and Further Education Colleges, health professionals, and the role of public service providers who are not public bodies, such as Registered Social Landlords.
• Scottish Government should clarify what is meant by ‘Ask’ and ‘Act,’ and should introduce these as two separate duties. ‘Asking’ must lead to ‘acting’ (including but not limited to referral), but ‘acting’ must not be dependent on the public body itself identifying the risk of homelessness.
• There needs to be clarity regarding any changes from the current homelessness duty of care, and the expected interaction between the bodies who have legislative responsibilities and those who don’t; ensuring expectation and practice is not left to chance. This should be clear through legislation and backed through Scottish Government guidance.

Action 16: What to include or deliver on in the guidance

• Scottish Government guidance that crosses sectors, and demonstrates the interaction between sectors, will be essential to the success of the Housing Bill.
• Personal Housing Plans must be person-led to succeed. Choice and control are key, but equally managing expectations is fundamental in areas where choice may be limited. Creative solutions and partnership working will be required by those supporting the implementation of plans. Guidance should convey the wider parameters they can operate in to make plans realised.
• Our understanding is that the intention is to predominantly use primary legislation and guidance, with little use of secondary legislation. This approach could impact on the ability to enforce and regulate the duties. Primary legislation on prevention needs to go beyond a framework bill, with secondary legislation being a more appropriate vehicle than guidance for the details of the framework.
• The guidance relating to Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 should be amended to reflect the new role that local Community Justice Partnerships have in identifying and responding to homelessness, specifying the actions the partnership will take in relation to homelessness prevention in Local Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plans. Community Justice Partners should ensure that the housing needs of individuals in prison are addressed consistently and at an early stage by fully implementing and embedding the Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone (SHORE) standards.
• Joint working between housing and health is essential. The guidance associated with the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 should be revised to reflect the new role of health and social care services in identifying and responding to risk of homelessness, in particular the Housing Advice Note^[12], The Strategic Commissioning Guidance^[13] and the Finance Guidance. In light of the new duties, local authorities also may wish to revisit the housing-related functions it delegates to Integration Authorities, under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, and/or joint commissioning of advice and support services for homelessness.
• Local Outcomes Improvement Plans (LOIPs) should be used to ensure prevention of homelessness is built into strategic planning effectively and in a way that the Chief Executive of each Local Authority would have to make prevention of homelessness a priority.