Scottish Government urged to redouble efforts on homelessness

A Christian group has warned that the Scottish Government may not meet its target on homelessness unless it redoubles its efforts.

The Scottish Government passed groundbreaking legislation in 2003 promising to provide housing for all homeless people by 2012.

While the target has been praised by homelessness groups, Scottish Churches Housing Action says spending cuts mean the deadline may not be met.

Its chief executive Alastair Cameron said: “Scotland hasn’t been building enough new affordable homes to meet the target, and the current spending cuts mean that councils won’t be able to maintain the support arrangements that are vital.”

In a letter to First Minister Alex Salmond, the group says the Scottish Government needs to redouble its efforts to provide all homeless people with housing.

It called upon the Scottish Government to take a “strong lead” on homelessness and support local level measures to address the problem.

He said: “Central and local government and the voluntary sector all have roles to play in reaching this ambitious and historic target.”

The latest statistics from the Scottish Government reveal a 1.6 per cent drop in the number of homeless applications since 2008. Single men accounted for 60 per cent of the applications, followed by single parent households, at 24 per cent.

The figures showed that 21 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities were on track to meet the target.

While acknowledging some progress, homelessness group Shelter Scotland has echoed similar sentiments to Church Housing.

It said recently that the lack of progress by some local authorities was “unacceptable” and that the provision of homes needed to be at the top of the Government agenda.