More children in temporary homes

Hundreds more Scots children are living in temporaryaccommodation,such as B&BS, as homelessness starts to rise again in Scotland, official figures today show.

Homelessness had been falling steadily since the start of the decade, but there was a 2 per cent hike in applications for assistance in the six months to September last year to 17,797, Scottish Government statistics today show. There were 6,581 children in temporary accommodation at the end of September last year, an increase of 594 (10 per cent) over the year. This is mainly council or social housing, although about 1 per cent of households with youngsters were in B&BS.

Labour’s housing spokeswoman Pauline Mcneill said: “These are deeply troubling figures that are a mark of shame on the SNP.

“It is simply unacceptable that in the 21st century, so many children should be without a permanent home.”

The Scottish Government’s Housing minister Kevin Stewart insisted that “significant actions” have been taken to tackle homelessness since last September, the period covered by the figures.

He added that homelessness applications are down 38 per cent over the decade.