A total of 518 homeless people died in Scotland in the past three years. This shocking figure will come as no surprise to campaigners who have been highlighting the crisis for many years.
Every one of these deaths is someone’s son or daughter. And every one is a blot on the record of the SNP administration. There are many contributing factors to homelessness but the one irrefutable truth is that Scotland has a chronic shortage of affordable homes.
First Minister Humza Yousaf has said he will make housing a priority. But the SNP has been talking of this as a “top priority” for years.
Rather than accelerating a building programme, it was recently revealed that the budget for future affordable homes would be slashed by millions. Campaigners have demanded a reversal of the cuts and also a reinstatement of the target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.
This comes hot on the heels of similar failures in other “top priority” areas such as the attainment gap, child poverty and drugs deaths. The current pattern can offer little other than dread for families in the grip of a cost of living crisis who are one catastrophe away from being chucked on to the streets.
More needs to be done to help our most vulnerable
It is disgraceful that vulnerable people could still have prepayment meters forcibly installed in their home. The practice has been widespread in Scotland and has caused far too many families to have their heating and electricity switched off.
It is no surprise that Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has welcomed the move – despite the fact that the new rules are voluntary and only stop over-85s from having prepayment meters forced upon them.
He shows typical Tory disregard for the vast majority of poor households. This is just another example of the UK Government not doing enough to help working-class people across the country.
Stephanie Millar, from Citizens Advice Scotland, said there should be a ban on all forced installations of prepayment meters. Too many people find themselves in debt due to high costs and a lack of support, so a social tariff is also needed to help the most vulnerable.
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