PUBLIC Finance Minister Kate Forbes has been urged to find more money to tackle Scotland’s worsening homelessness problem.

Last week’s Scottish Budget contained no increase in the Ending Homelessness Together Fund, which remains at £50 million between 2018 and 2023.

Forbes, who will be up in front of a special meeting of Holyrood’s Finance Committee as part of the Budget scrutiny process, has been warned that the situation is urgent.

Figures released last Wednesday revealed a spike in the number of people dying on our streets. According to figures compiled by the National Records of Scotland, 195 people experiencing homelessness died in 2018 – that’s a 19% increase in the estimate of 164 in 2017.

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The figures, which include people in temporary accommodation and rough sleepers, indicate that Scotland’s homeless death rate is 35.9 per million, more than double that of England, which sits at 16.8 per million. Gordon MacRae from Shelter Scotland, claimed the Scottish Government’s priorities were wrong.

Last week’s Budget announced a £17m increase to help meet the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over the course of this parliament.

A further £300m was also committed for 2021-22 to ensure affordable homes continue to be delivered beyond the current parliamentary term.

MacRae said: “The Scottish Government is investing £50m in efforts to transform homelessness services.

At the same time it is spending £150m helping 6000 people buy their first home. This calls into question whether they have chosen the right priorities. Ending Scotland’s housing emergency is dependent on continued investment in social housing, not propping up private house sales with injections of public money.

“Homelessness will only truly end when we stop it happening in the first place. This means prevention should be at the heart of our efforts. Increasing the availability of secure and affordable social housing is half the battle but a significant number of people struggle because of difficulty accessing support for issues like mental illness and addiction.

“Long-term cuts to these services must be reversed and they must work more closely with social housing providers to provide people with an effective package of support.

“The recent publication of statistics showing Scotland has an alarming death rate among people who are homeless makes this an ever more urgent issue.”

Housing campaigner Sean Clerkin has spent most of the last week lobbying the leaders of the opposition parties to press for an increase in homelessness funding when they meet Forbes. He said: “Despite a plethora of statistics marking out the homeless crisis in Scotland, the Scottish Government on the first page of chapter six of the proposed Scottish Budget have stuck to giving homeless people £50m over a period of five years, which they have oversubscribed already over the past year.”

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Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “The 2020-21 Scottish Budget adds to the single biggest investment and delivery of affordable housing since devolution.

The National:

We have now committed more than £3.5 billion to deliver good quality, secure and affordable homes, which will in turn help create strong, sustainable communities.

“Since 2007 we have delivered more than 89,000 affordable homes, including 61,356 for social rent, with the remainder for affordable home ownership and affordable rent.

“We also support people with home ownership through shared equity schemes to give them a helping hand – funds that return to government when those properties are sold. The provision of homes and the

major work we are doing backed by the additional £50m Ending Homelessness Together Fund to transform homelessness services is our priority.

“We are determined to prevent and end homelessness and rough sleeping.

“We are working with partners across public services to develop support to ensure stable, settled accommodation is available, with intensive support for those who may have more complex needs and find solutions to the challenging issues around homelessness.”