SNP 'failing' to keep care leavers out of temporary housing
Now, figures obtained by The Herald through freedom of information (FOI) requests, shows that 1,049 adults leaving the care system in 2024 were placed in temporary accommodation.
These figures only cover 23 of Scotland's 32 local authorities, meaning the scale of the problem could be far higher.
WhoCares? Scotland told The Herald its helpline is inundated with housing support requests, while 440 care leavers over the age of 16 raised concern between 2021 and 2024, while 37% were homeless.
It comes as the Scottish Government unveils new legislative plans to help meet The Promise.
However, it fails to remove the 2022 pause on prioritising social housing for care leavers.
Read more:
SNP must 'reinstate housing pledge for care leavers'
Sturgeon urges Scotgov to pick up pace on 'promise' to vulnerable kids
'People will die': Housing Secretary urged to end 'political choice' of homelessness
Scottish Tory MSP Roz McCall told The Herald: "This data lays bare the Scottish Government's failure to uphold its most basic duty to care-experienced young people: to ensure they have a safe and secure home.
"Temporary accommodation is not a long-term solution, and the scale of the crisis is deeply alarming.
"Behind every number is a young person who's been through the care system and is now being let down again.
"Ministers talk about Keeping the Promise, but these figures show a government that is still not listening."
"We cannot let this fall through the cracks," Ms McCall, who is a Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, added.
"If the Government is serious about changing outcomes, we need proper accountability, consistent data, and a national housing guarantee for care-experienced adults."
The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) Bill proposes extending the aftercare support currently available for 16 to 26-year-olds who were in care on their 16th birthday to those who had left care beyond that point.
It aims to introduce smoother transitions between children's and adult services.
The recording of care leavers in temporary accommodation varies widely across local government, with the charity warning The Promise cannot be met unless the true scale of the problem is known.
Edinburgh and Glasgow had the highest number of care leavers in temporary accommodation, with 131 and 142 respectively.
However areas like Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk, West Lothian and Ayrshire also recorded high levels.
The figures in these areas could also be higher as local authorities either do not ask the question on housing applications, or the care leaver does not declare it.
Read more:
15,000 jobs at risk from 'irreversible' UK inheritance tax changes
Pro Palestine campaign group to be banned, says Home Secretary
Nicola Sturgeon news, interviews and updates on the former FM
Louise Hunter, chief executive of WhoCares? Scotland, said: 'Everyone deserves a safe, secure home – a foundation that allows them to build a life, feel connected, and plan for their future.
'But this data shows that too many care experienced people are being placed in temporary accommodation, facing instability and uncertainty.
'Housing is consistently one of our top advocacy issues that we support care experienced people aged 16 and over with.
'But behind each number is a person who has experienced care and is now being let down by a system that should protect them.
'If Scotland is serious about Keeping the Promise, we must recognise that a stable home is not a privilege, it is a right.'
The charity heard care leavers are often not given any say on their housing placement, with one reporting she was forced to take a flat on the same street her father was murdered.
In February, the oversight board - a group created to monitor progress to meeting the promise - warned the Scottish Government was not even halfway there to keeping The Promise, while stressing there was no "reasonable explanation" for delay.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'Young people leaving care from age 16 are a priority for having their housing needs met and social landlords should also consider care leavers when they allocate houses.
'We are investing £768 million this year in affordable housing, including £40 million to support acquisitions of existing properties to increase the supply of social and affordable homes with 80% of the funding targeting the five local authorities facing the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures.
'The Cabinet Secretary for Housing is determined to ensure that the Housing (Scotland) Bill delivers strengthened rights for everyone experiencing homelessness, including those leaving care.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ITV News
2 minutes ago
- ITV News
Tulip Siddiq brands corruption trial in Bangladesh a ‘farce' as case opens
A former Government minister has labelled a trial into her alleged corruption a 'farce' as it got under way in Bangladesh. Tulip Siddiq, who resigned in January as Treasury minister, said the case being heard in Dhaka was 'built on fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta'. Ms Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, is the niece of the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheika Hasina, who fled the country in August last year after ruling for 15 years. Ms Hasina had previously held the post for five years and she is the daughter of Bangladesh's founding president. She was ousted amid student-led protests that were met with violence by government forces, which saw nearly 300 people killed. She is now exiled in India. In April, it was reported that Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission had sought an arrest warrant for Ms Siddiq over allegations the MP for Hampstead and Highgate illegally received a 7,200sq ft plot of land in the country's capital. Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials gave evidence in court on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. Ms Siddiq has claimed she has not had any official communication about the trial. In a post on X on Wednesday as the case got under way, Ms Siddiq said: 'The so-called trial now under way in Dhaka is nothing more than a farce – built on fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta. 'Over the past year, the allegations against me have repeatedly shifted, yet I have never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities once. 'I have never received a court summons, no official communication, and no evidence. 'If this were a genuine legal process, the authorities would have engaged with me or my legal team, responded to our formal correspondence, and presented the evidence they claim to hold. 'Instead, they have peddled false and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but never formally put to me by investigators. 'Even my offer to meet Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus during his recent visit to London was refused. Such conduct is wholly incompatible with the principles of a fair trial that we uphold in the UK. 'I have been clear from the outset that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence that is presented to me. Continuing to smear my name to score political points is both baseless and damaging.' The MP had resigned in January after six months in Government after an investigation by the Prime Minister's ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus into her links to Ms Hasina's regime. Lammy refers himself to authorities after breaking law on Vance fishing trip She came under scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt's allies. She stepped down and said she had become 'a distraction' from Labour's agenda. Campaigners from her aunt's party, the Awami League, had campaigned and canvassed for her during previous general elections. In an interview with the Guardian before the trial began, Ms Siddiq said she had been 'collateral damage' in the long-standing feud between Mr Yunus and Ms Hasina. She said: 'These are wider forces that I'm battling against… There's no doubt people have done wrong things in Bangladesh, and they should be punished for it. It's just I'm not one of them.' After an outcry over the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people demonstrating against what they said was an increasingly autocratic and cruel administration, Ms Hasina and Siddiq's mother, Sheikh Rehana, who was in the country at the time, fled the Bangladeshi capital in a military helicopter to India. It was, Ms Siddiq admits, a scary time. Ms Hasina's entire family, apart from her husband, children and sister, were murdered during the August 15 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'etat in which Ms Siddiq's grandfather, the first president of Bangladesh, was assassinated.
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
3,000 new police officers to be placed in communities
Labour minister Diana Johnston has vowed that every community in England and Wales will now have a named and contactable police officer. Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, the policing minister confirmed that 3,000 new police officers have been recruited to assist neighbourhoods. Members of the public can find their local officer by entering their postcode on their force's website or by making a phone enquiry. The government has allocated £200 million to police forces to ensure the effective implementation of this scheme.
Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
WFP suspends flights to Burkina Faso town after explosion
DAKAR, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme said on Wednesday it had suspended flights to the northwestern Burkina Faso town of Solle after an explosion near a helicopter it chartered injured a crew member and a government official. The WFP is trying to reach more than 300,000 people during the West African nation's lean season, which runs from June to August and in which "families' food stocks are exhausted," a spokesperson for the U.N. agency said. The blast occurred shortly after the helicopter landed in Solle on Tuesday and was being investigated, the spokesperson said. The injured were receiving medical care and the helicopter, though lightly damaged, had been "safely relocated". There was no immediate claim of responsibility. "WFP calls on all parties to adhere to their obligations under International Humanitarian Law, including the protection of aid workers and humanitarian assets," the spokesperson said. Burkina Faso is run by a military government that took power after two coups in 2022, vowing to make progress against a violent insurgency waged by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that began in neighbouring Mali in 2012 and has spread to other countries. But deadly militant attacks persist in much of the country. A WFP helicopter transporting food assistance to the northern town of Djibo came under attack in August 2023, though no passengers and crew were injured in that incident.
