Homelessness Prevention Task and Finish Group: final report and recommendations

Process and wider issues

While outstanding questions around the policy design have impacted how specific the recommendations are in their current form, the Group recognised the value of carrying out this work ahead of the legislation being drafted. Listening to the feedback of frontline staff and learning from the implementation of similar legislation elsewhere to inform the drafting was and is the right approach and should lead to legislation that enables better outcomes.

Contextually, it is important to note that there are other policy areas undergoing significant change, which have implications for design and implementation of homelessness prevention duties. Examples include the proposed National Care Service; commitments to incorporate UN human rights treaties into domestic law in Scotland; the recent UK signing of the Istanbul Convention, preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, and changes to the criminal justice system such as the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act. There are interactions between these different policy agendas which will need to be taken account of in the drafting of the legislation.