Under consideration PE1946: To call on the Scottish Government to pay all charges for homeless temporary accommodation.

Background information

The issue of the plight of homeless vulnerable people paying large charges for temporary accommodation from local authorities was first highlighted by a recent report from the Legal Services Agency in Glasgow which concluded that the Scottish Government should use general taxation to pay for all charges for temporary accommodation for homeless people.

More recently Homeless Action Scotland have highlighted in a report that working people who are homeless are being forced into serious debt. As they are above the threshold for housing benefits, the report suggests that local authorities are chasing after them using debt collection agencies.
The cost of living crisis will further impoverish many people in Scotland and it is highly likely there will be an increase in homeless applications and homeless assessments therefore the state has to protect our most vulnerable.

It is in this context of terrible financial hardship being experienced by many people in Scotland that I present this petition calling on the State to protect very vulnerable homeless people from this financial burden that will drive many of them into physical and mental ill health.