HOMELESSNESS in Scotland will slip back 50 years without urgent action, the head of a frontline charity has warned.

Mike Burns, chief executive of Aberdeen Cyrenians, says the progress made since the late 1960s could be lost to austerity. The warning comes as the charity prepares for demand for its services to rise as temperatures drop and Christmas approaches.

Burns told The National: “The situation in Scotland is getting worse. Unless we do something serious we will be back where we were 50 years ago. That was a seminal moment with the birth of Aberdeen Cyrenians, Shelter Scotland and registered social landlords. Those were all in response to serious problems in regards to rough sleeping. We find ourselves back there again — homeless families are rising every year.”

Homelessness applications to Aberdeen City Council rose by seven per cent to 1375 last year.

According to Shelter, almost 29,300 households were assessed as homeless across the country during the period, with nearly 10,900 in temporary accommodation at any one time.

Meanwhile, it is estimated that 5000 people sleep rough on Scotland’s streets throughout the year.

Aberdeen Cyrenians, which offers a food bank, week-round drop-in service and supplies clothing and toys to those affected, has now launched its Christmas appeal and aims to raise £60,000-£70,000 to keep its operations running.

The Scottish Government’s new Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group is working on “urgent recommendations” to minimise rough sleeping, with a £50 million fund available to supports its work.

Welcoming this, Burns says coordinated action is needed to address complex drivers of homelessness. Attacking the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for welfare reforms it insists are helping people into employment, he said: “We have quite a large rough sleeping population in comparison to the size of the city. The reasons for that are quite clear.

“Successive governments have failed to build enough homes. Then we have the impact of draconian, harsh welfare cuts that are compounded by the rollout of Universal Credit with the six week wait period. How are people supposed to live? They start falling into arrears and find themselves being thrown out of their accommodation.

“The DWP deny it, but they seem to be the only ones who can’t accept it.”

Retiree John Buchan, from Bridge of Don, will collect clothing and food supplies for the charity outside the Marks & Spencer branch off the city’s Union Street from 10am-2pm on Saturday.

Buchan, who experienced poverty as a child, told The National: “I know what it’s like to have nothing. There were times when only food I got in the day was my school dinner.

“Aberdeen is full of folk with money.

“They can go in the house, put the heating on and be warm. People on the street can’t do that, nobody even wants them in a cafe for a heat.”