SCANDAL OF 700 HOMELESS KIDS
Courier reveals worrying scale of housing crisis
Over 700 children were homeless in West Lothian in 2018/19.
The Courier sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to West Lothian Council and discovered that there were 720 dependent children living in households who made homeless applications in the county during 2018/19.
The FOI also revealed that in
September 2019 there were 344 children living in temporary homeless accommodation in West Lothian.
Homeless charity Shelter’s Generation Homeless report found 14,043 children were homeless in Scotland in 2018/19.
Earlier this year Shelter Scotland urged West Lothian
Council to stop placing families in bed and breakfasts after figures revealed the authority had breached rules nearly 100 times.
Regulations say no children or pregnant women should be kept in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than seven days but statistics revealed that the council exceeded this limit 80 times in 2018/19.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: “Homelessness is often a very complex issue and we will continue to make every effort to find permanent settled outcomes for all those who declare as homeless.
“West Lothian’s young and growing population means that we face more challenges than most local authorities in fulfilling our statutory duty to provide emergency and temporary accommodation to homeless applicants.
“One of the key issues is that the demand for affordable housing
outstrips supply, both nationally and locally, and we are looking to tackle this through one of the largest new council home building programmes in scotland.
“We prioritise families for temporary accommodation, with hotel and B&B accommodation being used only as a last resort when there is no alternative.
“a rapid rehousing transition plan has been approved to give a greater focus on prevention of homelessness and housing options with the aim of eliminating use of B&B accommodation and reducing length of stay in temporary accommodation.”
russell Hamilton from action for Children said: “In West Lothian we support more than 100 young people every year who are either homeless or at the risk of presenting as homeless.
“the biggest driver of referrals is issues around universal credit as well as family breakdown and adverse childhood experiences.
“We work closely with West Lothian Council to tackle youth homelessness in the local area. Furthermore we work in a collaborative manner to provide support to young people presenting as homeless or who are at the risk of becoming homeless.”
shelter has launched a campaign called are You With us?, aiming to create a legal right to housing.
the charity’s graeme Brown said: “too many people in scotland don’t have access to the basic right of a decent and affordable home, which is simply wrong in the 21st century in one of the world’s wealthiest countries.
“We want the people of scotland to know that a good home is their right, not a privilege, and it should be law.”
angela Constance Msp said: “I have signed the pledge by shelter as every child is entitled to a cosy home and too many children are spending too long in emergency or temporary accommodation.
“sadly, West Lothian Council have not succeeded in avoiding the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families. the bottom line is that more houses are needed and the scottish government has made a long-term investment of £39m across West Lothian.”
Miles Briggs Msp said: “Everyone has the right to a decent, affordable home and this campaign would put that into law. that is why I am supporting the campaign.”
neil Findlay Msp said: “to see families stuck in bed and breakfast accommodation with no cooking facilities or people sleeping on the streets in depth of winter is heartbreaking. We need major investment in social housing, caps on excessive private rents and an end to street sleeping. this requires money and political commitment.”