SNP ‘ must act on child homelessness’
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have called for action to be taken on homelessness in Scotland after it emerged that more than 12,000 children were without a home last Christmas.
A total of 22,368 homeless applic at i ons were l i ve on December 25 last year, involving 12,467 children and 25,832 adults.
The number of c hi l dren involved in live applications has risen from 10,508 in 2015, along with t he number of adults from 24,906.
Paul Mcgarry, the Lib Dem housing spokesman, who was himself homeless at 16, said: "At this time of year, most of us can rely upon a comfortable and secure roof above our heads. These statistics show thousands upon thousands are not so lucky. "In the past four years, the number of children part of a live homeless application on Christmas Day has risen almost 20%. That's a heartbreaking statistic.
"Whether it's living on the streets, sofa- surfing or shutt l i n g b e t ween t e mporar y accommodation, these situations take a huge toll on peopl e ' s mental and physical health.
"It also exerts a huge toll on children's education and development.
"Scotland is a wealthy and prosperous country. We can do so much better than this."
At the beginning of the pandemic, the Scottish Government worked to slash the number of homeless people in Scotland, which Mr Mcgarry said was "remarkable".
However, he said people had questioned why it took the pandemic before action was taken. Mr Mcgarry said: "The work that was done at the outset of the pandemic to house people was remarkable. But it also left many people wondering why it needed this cri
sis for government to mount a concerted effort to stop people being left outside.
"T h e S NP mus t u r g e n t - ly grasp the opportunity to build more social housing and ensure councils have resourc
es to fix poor housing.”
Housing mini s t e r Kevi n Stewart said: "We don't want children to be experiencing homelessness at any time of the year. Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness
rights in the world. "These rights pre- date the pandemic by years and have been a strong safety net for people experiencing homelessness."