Homelessness Prevention Task and Finish Group: final report and recommendations

The context: Transformational change is in reach

Scotland is on the brink of introducing ground-breaking legislation on homelessness prevention. Learning from across Europe and building on changes to the law in England and Wales, the Scottish Government is proposing to introduce legislation which puts prevention at the heart of our approach to tackling homelessness. This ambitious new approach goes further than anywhere else in the world.

In 2018, the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group recommended that the Scottish Government legislate for a new prevention duty for public bodies. The Scottish Government asked Crisis to convene an independent group to develop legislative proposals to prevent homelessness. This became the Prevention Review Group; its work was supported by the Prevention Commission, a group of people with lived and frontline experience of homelessness, whose views shaped the final proposals, published in February 2021. A joint Scottish Government and COSLA consultation for the new prevention duties then took place between December 2021 and April 2022, finding widespread support for the new duties.

The journey to this point has been one marked by strong partnership between government, the third sector, academia and people with experience of homelessness. It is in this context and in this spirit of collaboration that the Prevention Task and Finish Group has undertaken its work. The Scottish Government’s upcoming Housing Bill (in which the prevention duties will sit) has the potential to be transformational; changing lives across the country.