Homeless Project Scotland has been a controversial organisation, regarded as a disrupter. They don’t claim to be everyone’s cup of tea.
And they don’t particularly care that some neighbouring businesses in Glasgow’s Merchant City would rather see them go somewhere else. But helping the homeless isn’t a popularity contest. HPS is providing a vital service, as our report shows today. It is putting a roof over people’s heads, in the most desperate of circumstances, when no one else is.
The daily and nightly queues down the city’s Glassford Street prove that there’s a cohort of service users who greatly benefit from their kitchen as well as their night shelter. And we should remember that every person that puts their head down at HPS is funded by the people of Scotland – through donations.
These donations are saving the city council a significant sum in bills for sub-standard hotel rooms – another scandal covered at length in the Daily Record. But the council should not be at the mercy of these hotels, some of which are run disgracefully by profiteering owners.
The council can always find an emergency bed when it is legally compelled to do so. But it should invest cash in a proper facility, professionally run, that can deal with any overflow of homelessness, while a longer-term solution is found to the housing crisis. It is clearly needed.
Time to hit target
Improvements have been made when it comes to the mental health treatment time target for children and young people. The waiting list is now at its lowest point since 2013, and half of children and young people referred are now starting treatment within six weeks.
It is also good to see that the draft mental health budget has been increased for next year. But the Scottish Government has still failed to meet the targets for kids’ mental health wait times since they set them 10 years ago.
These services are particularly important as it is a hard time for young people. They had their education disrupted by Covid lockdowns and social media puts them under additional pressure. These 43,000 who did not receive help quickly enough have been let down. All kids should be starting treatment within 18 weeks. The Scottish Government not making this happen even once in a decade is unacceptable.
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