Public bodies including the health service will have a legal duty to “ask and act” under plans to prevent homelessness, a minister has said.
Housing Secretary Shona Robison set out the Scottish Government’s proposals during a Holyrood debate on Wednesday.
It means the NHS police and children’s organisations would be among the groups required to identify people at risk of becoming homeless and take action themselves or refer the person to get help.
The minister said the proposals will form part of a Housing Bill the Government will bring before MSPs.
Figures released on Tuesday showed an increase in the number of Scots classed as homeless, and Ms Robison said there are “far too many” families in temporary accommodation.
Ms Robison said: “We propose introducing new duties on public bodies to ‘ask and act’ to prevent homelessness so that prevention of homelessness is no longer the sole responsibility of local authority housing departments.
“We know, for example, that there is often increased engagement with health services before someone becomes homeless.
“We must get better at identifying these crisis points to ensure that every single risk of homelessness that can be prevented is prevented.
“There are also new duties proposed for landlords, including in relation to domestic abuse, which continues to be the main reason for homelessness among women.
“The proposals do not stop there. They also aim to make changes to existing homelessness legislation to ensure that local authority housing departments are able to act sooner – up to six months before homelessness may occur.”
Speaking for the Scottish Conservatives, Miles Briggs said he supports the proposals to create new legal duties to prevent homelessness.
He said: “A major flaw in the current system is that people must register as homeless before they’ve given any housing support or access to services.
“This current model prevents people presenting or asking for help at an early stage – until they’re at a crisis point.”
Scottish Labour MSP Mark Griffin said: “The rhetoric surrounding preventing homelessness must be matched by the provision of resources to local authorities.
“With councils now forced to consider a further £250 million cut, it would be remiss of us to ignore the impact on ending homelessness.”
