Council to bid for cash

Homeless fund

West Lothian is to join local authorities across Scotland in bidding for extra money to tackle homelessness.

Scottish Government funding of £ 21m is in place for a five-year Rapid Rehousing Transition plan to provide short and long-term solutions to homelessness and West Lothian Council officials have to prepare proposals for the end of the year.

The plan is expected to launch in April next year, and the emphasis of the initiative is on prevention. The thinking behind the programme reduces the length of stay in temporary accommodation and eases the transition into more stabilised housing.

The proposals also encourage a review of the council’s current housing allocation policy and the types of temporary accommodation used.

Housing Needs manager, Anne Marie Carr, told the council’s Executive that the initiative would evolve as the picture of homelessness becomes clearer.

She stressed that key to the initiative was greater collaboration with registered social landlords who can provide more of their housing stock to help the homeless and ease the burden on the council as a sole provider of homes for the homeless .

She added: “Each partner is buying into the process” which would see a move to allocations directly from the housing register. Local plans need to address local housing supply issues as well as the extent of homelessness as well as the short term supply and long-term demands for accommodation, including supported accommodation.