Homelessness Prevention Task and Finish Group: final report and recommendations

The Homelessness Prevention Task and Finish Group

The group is one of four that sit under the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group, co-chaired by Scottish Government and COSLA.

The Task and Finish group, co-delivered by Crisis and Cyrenians and made up of local government, public sector, members of the All in for Change Team, and third sector, began work in October 2022, meeting six times over six months. The group had input from speakers covering topics including: culture change; system design and strategic planning; prevention of homelessness for at-risk groups; and prevention duties in England and Wales. The remit set by the HPSG for this Task and Finish Group was to:

• Identify what groundwork is needed to ensure successful implementation of Scotland’s homelessness prevention legislation
• Consider how to galvanise other parts of the public sector into action and what resources and training might be required to provide clarity to duty holders
• Reflect on the best way to ensure a coherent approach to prevention, and how the new legislation will align with existing prevention pathways
• Gather evidence to make the economic and moral cases for cooperation to address homelessness
• Consider the development of an engagement/influencing strategy to ensure buy-in from the widest range of professional structures outside of the homelessness sector
• Consider any important lessons that can be learned from implementation of similar legislation in England and Wales. Members will want to consider the benefits of a place-based approach to preventing homelessness alongside the implementation of the new duties as that has the potential to bring in groups and organisations who have an interest in homelessness prevention, but no duty.

The group was designed to build on the work of the Prevention Review Group, avoiding repetition of parallel policy development processes already produced, or taking place. It was agreed that it was not within the remit of the group to carry out further policy development, nor was it within the remit of the group to pre-empt legislation or guidance developed by Scottish Government and COSLA before it is scrutinised through the parliamentary process.