The Scottish Housing Regulator today published updated engagement plans for two of Scotland’s biggest councils.
Earlier in December, the Regulator published a statement that highlighted the increasingly challenging context for councils’ delivery of services to people experiencing homelessness. The Regulator concluded that as a result of this context some councils were finding it increasingly difficult to fully meet their statutory duties on homelessness, particularly providing suitable temporary accommodation to people experiencing homelessness.
The statement further highlighted that in some councils there is now systemic failure in the delivery of homelessness services. The Regulator has concluded that Glasgow City Council and The City of Edinburgh Council are impacted by this systemic failure in homelessness services, and has updated their engagement plans accordingly.
John Jellema, Assistant Director of Regulation, said:
“The demands on Glasgow and Edinburgh Councils now exceed their capacity to respond. We therefore take the view that both Councils are impacted by systemic failure in the delivery of their services to people experiencing homelessness. This is particularly the case in the provision of temporary accommodation where, despite improvements made by both councils, they are not always able to provide such accommodation when they should and regularly breach the Unsuitable Accommodation Order when they do provide temporary accommodation.
“We are ready to work with the Scottish Government, councils and other stakeholders to identify and implement actions that will address these systemic issues. We will also engage with Glasgow and Edinburgh Councils to seek assurance that they continue their best efforts to improve where they can.
“We continue to engage with other councils, and we will update the engagement plans for those councils to reflect our assessment in the coming weeks.”
Read the Regulator's statement
Notes to editors
- The Scottish Housing Regulator was established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. Its objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of tenants and others who use local authority and RSL housing services. The Regulator operates independently of Scottish Ministers and is accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament. It assumed its full regulatory responsibilities on 1 April 2012. The Regulator consists of the Chair and seven Board members. More information about the Regulator can be found on its website at housingregulator.gov.scot
- SHR sets out how it regulates social landlords in its published framework – Regulation of Social Housing in Scotland.