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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Scotland's law to end homelessness: a bold policy which needs more action | Scotland's law to end homelessness: a bold policy which needs more action |
| (25 days later) | |
| So 2012 has come and gone. For much of the UK it was the year of the London Olympics. But for those of us at Shelter Scotland, for more than 10 years now, 2012 has shone on the horizon as the year in which homelessness laws were to be reformed. | So 2012 has come and gone. For much of the UK it was the year of the London Olympics. But for those of us at Shelter Scotland, for more than 10 years now, 2012 has shone on the horizon as the year in which homelessness laws were to be reformed. |
| Since the end of 2012 Scottish councils have been obliged to treat all homeless people equally, ending decades-old discrimination in homelessness law between families with children and single people. | Since the end of 2012 Scottish councils have been obliged to treat all homeless people equally, ending decades-old discrimination in homelessness law between families with children and single people. |
| It is a programme that puts Scotland well ahead of any other country in the UK and, indeed, across the developed world, praise has been given for the boldness of the ambition. | It is a programme that puts Scotland well ahead of any other country in the UK and, indeed, across the developed world, praise has been given for the boldness of the ambition. |
| So, as of 1 January 2013, has homelessness been ended? | So, as of 1 January 2013, has homelessness been ended? |
| Well, no. | Well, no. |
| There are still homeless people in Scotland and, regrettably, it seems there will continue to be while some fundamentals like poverty, inequality and a declining supply of affordable homes persist. | There are still homeless people in Scotland and, regrettably, it seems there will continue to be while some fundamentals like poverty, inequality and a declining supply of affordable homes persist. |
| Changing the law does not change that and was never meant to; it simply provides a level of service if, and when, homelessness occurs. And new homelessness rights are only as good as the services available to meet them. | Changing the law does not change that and was never meant to; it simply provides a level of service if, and when, homelessness occurs. And new homelessness rights are only as good as the services available to meet them. |
| As conceived, 10 years ago under the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003, reform of the law was to be the locomotive which dragged increased housing supply and improved services in its wake. That was one of the principal reasons that local government umbrella body Cosla supported the changes. | As conceived, 10 years ago under the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003, reform of the law was to be the locomotive which dragged increased housing supply and improved services in its wake. That was one of the principal reasons that local government umbrella body Cosla supported the changes. |
| Without the peg of increased duties the argument for more spending on housing would have been so much weaker these last ten years. | Without the peg of increased duties the argument for more spending on housing would have been so much weaker these last ten years. |
| For most of the ten years it worked too. | For most of the ten years it worked too. |
| Since 2002, there has been new investment in affordable homes, new development of services and a step-change in the additional help needed by homeless people. Not as much as I'd like but not to be sneezed at. Yet it has all come a bit unstuck in the last 2-3 years with overall housing investment the chief victim of public sector budget cuts. | Since 2002, there has been new investment in affordable homes, new development of services and a step-change in the additional help needed by homeless people. Not as much as I'd like but not to be sneezed at. Yet it has all come a bit unstuck in the last 2-3 years with overall housing investment the chief victim of public sector budget cuts. |
| So it is against that changing backdrop that we need to judge where we are now on homelessness. | So it is against that changing backdrop that we need to judge where we are now on homelessness. |
| The latest headline statistics from the Scottish Government appear to show significant falls in the levels of recorded homelessness – 13% in the most recent trends – and even more dramatic in some areas. Some of that reduction will certainly be the fruits of real change in what councils are doing, getting in early and preventing homelessness ever occurring. | The latest headline statistics from the Scottish Government appear to show significant falls in the levels of recorded homelessness – 13% in the most recent trends – and even more dramatic in some areas. Some of that reduction will certainly be the fruits of real change in what councils are doing, getting in early and preventing homelessness ever occurring. |
| But equally, the shifts in patterns of homeless are too dramatic and too uneven across Scotland for that to be the whole explanation. | But equally, the shifts in patterns of homeless are too dramatic and too uneven across Scotland for that to be the whole explanation. |
| I am certain that some homeless people who previously would have received a service and who need a service are being diverted away from anything that might give them the right to a home. | I am certain that some homeless people who previously would have received a service and who need a service are being diverted away from anything that might give them the right to a home. |
| In one sense, that is hardly surprising, is it? | In one sense, that is hardly surprising, is it? |
| As the availability of affordable rented homes dwindles councils are between a rock and a hard place, with a rising number of people entitled by law to a service on the one hand and a reducing pool of homes to provide on the other. It must be hard to avoid more enthusiastic forms of rationing access to that of housing. | As the availability of affordable rented homes dwindles councils are between a rock and a hard place, with a rising number of people entitled by law to a service on the one hand and a reducing pool of homes to provide on the other. It must be hard to avoid more enthusiastic forms of rationing access to that of housing. |
| But the first minister's recent speech on a future constitution for Scotland picked out rights to housing as an example of the kind of ambition to which the 2012 reforms also aspired. | But the first minister's recent speech on a future constitution for Scotland picked out rights to housing as an example of the kind of ambition to which the 2012 reforms also aspired. |
| Irrespective of where one stands on Scotland's place within the UK, it should be possible to sustain a consensus that a decent, affordable home should be a universal expectation in any progressive country. | Irrespective of where one stands on Scotland's place within the UK, it should be possible to sustain a consensus that a decent, affordable home should be a universal expectation in any progressive country. |
| So I believe that we still have a choice on homelessness. We can keep on the path on which we embarked in 2002, under a Labour-Lib Dem Administration and continued under SNP ministers. | So I believe that we still have a choice on homelessness. We can keep on the path on which we embarked in 2002, under a Labour-Lib Dem Administration and continued under SNP ministers. |
| That's a path which recognizes that the best solution to homelessness is a home, with advice, support and access to other services like training and employment, all flowing from that. | That's a path which recognizes that the best solution to homelessness is a home, with advice, support and access to other services like training and employment, all flowing from that. |
| Some councils remain true to that path. Or we can batten down the hatches, limit our ambition and just hope that we are not simply stoking up further crises down the road. | Some councils remain true to that path. Or we can batten down the hatches, limit our ambition and just hope that we are not simply stoking up further crises down the road. |
| I know which choice I prefer. | I know which choice I prefer. |
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