Council defends its handling of homelessness
Authority leadingthewayindealingwithissue
Housing officers have moved to defend the local authority’s handling of homelessness in Perth and Kinross. Those who work with homeless people living in the region say the services on offer by Perth and Kinross Council are among the “best in Scotland”. This comes after figures highlighted the number of homeless people in the region had risen by 22 per cent over the last year. This also included a 37 per cent rise in the number of young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who were classed as homeless in the past 12 months. Clare Mailer, head of housing at the council, explained: “The number of presentations [999] who have come to us and indicated they might be homeless, that is the top level figure. “Anyone can come to us and say, ‘I think I might be homeless’. We have a legal obligation to assess that because we want to make sure we are not depriving anyone of the right to access homeless services. “If someone came in they would get an appointment the next week, and often they do not come to that appointment. “Nine-hundred-andninety-nine was the actual number of households, but only about 70 per cent ended up as homeless – the rest we prevented before it happened. We have also almost eliminated the need to use B&Bs for temporary accommodation. “We only did that for 14 people and they were emergencies over the weekend, for things such
The PA’s exclusive coverage of the extent of homelessness last month
Martin Smith, Clare Mailer and Councillor Peter Barrett as flood or domestic abuse. That Government and COSLA, and is probably the lowest in Scotland have been exemplary models in a – the average here is 1.58 days, recent case study by the homeless where the national average is 33 charity Crisis. nights. Clare added: “Crisis said it was
“And rough sleeping is at eight the best example they had seen of per cent nationally – in Perth and changing the approach in dealing Kinross it is half that.” with homelessness.
Currently, housing officers at “We want to remove the stigma the local authority are working of homelessness and reduce the on a ‘home first’ strategy. impact it has on households to
This means when someone deliver much better outcomes says they are homeless, officers as quickly as we can. work to rapid rehousing, “That practice here is quite where they try to find them a unique and not necessarily stable home quickly instead of the reflection nationally. This putting them into temporary has been a concerted effort accommodation. from across the council for
They also speak to a number of a good number of years to school children every year to help work collectively for homeless manage expectations of leaving people.” home and talk to them about Martin Smith, team leader of family mediation. housing options and specialist
Because their home first services at Perth and Kinross scheme has been so successful, Council, was also keen to dispel they say the council has become the myth that there are rough a leading example for the Scottish sleepers in Perth and Kinross. He said: “We have virtually no rough sleepers in Perth and Kinross. We know all of the street beggars, and they are not homeless. If we see someone new on the streets, we engage with them straight away to support them into accommodation.
“Anyone who thinks they may be homeless can tell us anywhere.
“My team is based in Pullar House in Perth, but people can go to local offices and community campuses and get the same level of services.
“They will be asked to give a brief overview of their situation and they will see a housing options officer straight away.
“We have 28 days to make a decision but we often make same-day decisions. We have been the first to do that –we are the best at this stuff in Scotland.”
Anyone who thinks they may be homeless can speak to a housing officer at Pullar House.