£50m cash injection to end homelessness

Housing bosses are renewing efforts to stamp out homelessness and end rough sleeping.

A £50million fighting fund has been set up by Holyrood, which will be used to tackle homelessness over the next five years.

And Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said a new action group will earmark actions and changes need to tackle the scourge of rough sleeping.

He said: “We want to see an end to rough sleeping and the appointment of our Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group will lead the way in recommending the actions and legislative changes we need to take across all levels of government, to tackle homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation.

“We are committed to erradicating rough sleeping in Scotland and know this requires more than just the provision of housing — every individual has their own unique needs and challenges.

“To achieve this, we need to ensure we have a joined up approach across all sectors to improve prevention.

Jon Sparkes is chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis, which will chair the action group. He said: “I firmly believe we can end homelessness for good. We know the scale of the problem and this group will focus firmly on deliverable solutions which prevent, tackle and end homelessness for people.

“For Crisis, there is simply no place for scepticism or hesitation.

“It is our firm belief that, together, we will end homelessness.”