Ending Homelessness Together and Rapid Rehousing Transition

PlansMatt Howarth, Scottish Government, Homelessness Unit

ENDING HOMELESSNESS TOGETHER

• Action Plan Published on 27 November 2018.

• Sets out a 5 year plan

• Joint plan between SG and COSLA

• Found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/ending-homelessness-together-high-level-action-plan/

Ending Homelessness TogetherAction Plan

• Action Plan responds to the 70 recommendations set out by HARSAG

• Progress overseen by Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group• Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, Kevin Stewart MSP

• COSLA Community Wellbeing Spokesperson, Cllr Elena Whitham

• £50m Ending Homelessness Together Fund (over 5 year)

Winter Actions

• Safeguard people sleeping rough during winter – part of HARSAG recommendations

• Early actions in 2017 included: increasing night shelter and frontline outreach capacity, Flexible Emergency Funds • Starting an outreach service in Aberdeen

• Frontline Winter Planning Group

• New initiatives: link worker, national signposting website, rural outreach

• Includes role for Seascape.

• Commissioned an options appraisal (by Centre for Homelessness Impact) for a new national rough sleeping data collection. The Centre aims to publish the final report in mid-May at which time we will also announce our next steps.

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Legislation

• Consulted on local connection and intentionality provisions in homelessness legislation (31 Jan – 25 April).

• Now analysing responses which will be considered along with other available evidence. We will publish all non-confidential responses on the consultation hub within 20 working days of the consultation closing. We will also post an analysis of responses received and a report on the consultation and will notify hub leads when these are available on the Scottish Government’s consultation hub, Citizen Space http://consult.gov.scot).

• Narrow definition of ‘intentionality’ – changing from a duty on local authorities to a power

• Suspend or modify local connection referrals between local authorities

• Update Code of Guidance • consider Code of Practice addendum• Develop new homelessness prevention duty

Temporary Accommodation

• Extending Unsuitable Accommodation Order• 2018 Programme for Government

• Restricting time in unsuitable accommodation for all to 7 days

• Consultation to be launched in spring 2019 – questions on definition, timescale, implementation and enforcement

• Standards for temporary accommodation• Enforce and monitor standards in all tenures

• Consultation spring 2019 – questions on advisory standards in new Code of Guidance, monitoring, enforcement, regulation and legislation

Lived Experience

• Lived Experience programme to launch later in 2019• Underpins the Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan

• Public perceptions activity• Early work to scope out plans with partners – voice of lived experience central to this.

Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans

• 1st Iterations were asked for by Scottish Government by 31 January 2019• All 32 received• But only 20 Costed RRTPs

• Feedback has now been provided on all 32 LAs and meetings offered on this by SG Homelessness Team officials. South Ayrshire due to meet with SG during May. • RRTPs are structured to capture evidence around

• Prevention• Temporary accommodation • settled and supported accommodation,

• partnership working• cost analysis.

• Expect final RRTPS over the summer and meetings on-going with COSLA and SG LGF about funding distribution.

Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan Sub-Group

• Supported by the RRTP Sub-Group chaired by John Mills, Co-chair ALACHO.

• Membership: 5 Housing Options Hubs; COSLA; SFHA; Scottish Housing Network; Glasgow Homelessness Network; NHS HIS; Housing Support Enabling Unit; Cyrenians; and LA Director of Finance

• Role of the RRTP Sub-Group:• Consideration of guidance, support and active learning required by LA and

partners around RRTPs.

• Develop “What a good RRTP will look like”

• Encouraging a culture change with local authorities and partners to promote partnership working at a strategic level and operational level in embedding rapid rehousing and scaling up Housing First.

Rapid Rehousing and Housing First Funding

• £50m Ending Homelessness Together Fund• £23.5m for rapid rehousing and Housing First (Contribution from Health

Portfolio)

• Up to £6.5m for 5 Housing First pathfinder cities

• Provided £2m to support the development of RRTPs

• Up to £15m for the implementation of RRTPs

Housing First

• 5 Pathfinder cities • Dundee

• Edinburgh

• Glasgow

• Aberdeen (shire).

• Stirling

• Collaboration - Social Bite, Glasgow Homelessness Network and Corra Foundation

• Other local authorities capturing Housing First in RRTPs

If you have any questions please contact me at:

matthew.howarth@gov.scot