Veteran suicide and homelessness in Scotland statistics: FOI release

Information requested

You asked if there has ever been an open enquiry into veterans suicides in Scotland and are any homeless veterans in Scotland placed in hotels in Scotland at this time.

Response

In response to your first point, I can confirm that there has not been an open enquiry into veterans suicides in Scotland. However you may find the following reports useful.

A Connected Scotland - tackling social isolation and loneliness: Dec 2018

The Strategy for Our Veterans: Nov 2018

In response to your query on homeless veterans in Scotland placed in hotels, our national homelessness statistics record people who are assessed as homeless that were formerly in the armed forces. The latest statistics published in August cover the period April 2019 to the end of March 2020 and therefore do not cover the majority of the coronavirus lockdown period.

The table below gives a snapshot of households with a member who was previously in the armed forces who were in temporary accommodation at 31st March 2020, by accommodation type. However, this data collection does not record people who were placed into hotels.

All	245
Local Authority ordinary dwelling	125
Housing Association/ Registered Social Landlord dwelling	30
Hostel - Local Authority owned	15
Hostel – Registered Social Landlord	10
Hostel – Other	15
Bed and Breakfast	20
Womens Refuge	0
Private Sector Lease	10
Other placed by local authority	20

*Note that figures have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 for disclosure control purposes.

In response to the coronavirus public health emergency, between April and the end of August 2020, we provided over £1.5 million to third sector organisations to enable them to provide emergency hotel accommodation and support for people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing homelessness, this includes people sleeping rough. Information on whether the people supported were veterans is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.