Councillors in West Lothian will this week and consider a final update to the local authority’s five-year plan to house those who are homeless as quickly as possible, which will then go to the Scottish Government.
West Lothian Council’s Executive Committee are due to meet this week to consider the update to the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP), which will update the government on efforts to transition to a the approach in the area.
As part of the Scottish Government ambitions to end homelessness local authorities were instructed in 2018 to develop five-year plans, detailing the steps each would take to move to a rapid housing approach – where homeless households receive settled housing as quickly as possible. Updates on the progress of transition plans are required to be submitted annually to the Scottish Government.
In 2019, the council launched its local RRTP detailing plans to increase its efforts to prevent homelessness, improve access to all social rented housing and reduce the reliance on temporary B&B accommodation.
West Lothian Council Executive will be asked to consider the proposed final update to the RRTP ahead of its submission at the end of January.
The proposed update notes that there remains a significant imbalance between the demand and supply of affordable social homes in West Lothian with severe pressures in homeless services. RRTP has also been impacted by unprecedented external challenges such as Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis.
However, the RRTP remains a key strategy for the council, helping to drive positive changes in homelessness services and striving to meet the Scottish Governments ambitions to end homelessness.
Despite the challenges, the transition plan has continued to make significant contributions towards preventing and responding to homelessness across 2023/24 with highlights including:
- A reduction in homeless applications by 7.1 per cent, decreasing from 1,252 in 2022/23 to 1,169 in 2023/24
- The length of stay in temporary accommodation reducing by 11 days, reducing from 152 days in 2022/23 to 141 days in 2023/24 through the introduction of Rapid Access accommodation
- An increase in lets to homeless households by 2.2 per cent from the previous year
- 121 more properties re-let from the previous year through the introduction of an extensive void improvement programme
- With the RRTP now reaching the end of its five-year timeline, the report to committee notes that council officers are in the process of developing a new three-year homeless strategy which will look to build on the previous RRTP and transition RRTP into mainstream services.
Head of Housing Customer and Building Services, Julie Whitelaw said: “There are significant challenges still ahead for the council and demand for homeless services in West Lothian is predicted to remain high. RRTPs play a key role in continuing to strive to address these pressures and now require to be updated and extended beyond the initial five-year plans.
“There is now an opportunity to reset RRTP by developing a refreshed Homeless Strategy with engagement and buy in from key partners and stakeholders which takes a sharper focus on the priorities and actions that are needed to strive towards meeting the ambitions of Ending Homelessness together in partnership.”
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