NEW measures are being put in place to help prevent Scots from having to sleep on the streets this winter.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged the Scottish Government would immediately implement all the recommendations from an expert group set up to examine how to end the problem of rough sleeping.
It will be backed by an initial £328,000 of money from ministers and members of the Scottish Government’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group.
The group, which was set up at the start of October, has outlined a number of steps to be taken to reduce the number of people sleeping on the street this winter.
They include increasing temporary and emergency accommodation in Edinburgh by expanding winter shelter capacity from 60 to 75 places, with an addition 12 “rapid access beds”, which organisations working with the homeless can use.
Outreach work to help the homeless will be increased in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and possibly Dundee.
Meanwhile, use of the Nightstop scheme, where volunteers provide emergency accommodation for up to two weeks for homeless young people, is to be maximised in Edinburgh, while work will also be carried out to set up a similar project in Glasgow.
Frontline staff working with the homeless will also be given funds to help individuals with an immediate housing need.
The action group which drew up the recommendations includes council figures, the charities Shelter and Crisis, the founder of the Social Bite cafe, a former moderator of the Church of Scotland and others from the voluntary sector.
Sturgeon said: “I want to thank the Action Group for the serious and urgent work they have done. These actions, which the government accepts in full and will roll out immediately, will provide more support for those who find themselves homeless and more safe and warm places to stay this winter.”
She added: “While we take these immediate steps to help those who find themselves at risk of rough sleeping this winter, the group’s work now continues as we strive to end rough sleeping for good.”
Action group chair, Jon Sparkes from the charity Crisis, said: “As the cold weather bites, it’s critical to support as many people sleeping on the streets as possible.”
He said the proposals they had put forward “mean that immediate, effective support can be given to people sleeping rough this winter, as well as making longer-term solutions easier to access.”
However, he said the long-term focus was on work to prevent people from rough sleeping in the first place, adding: “Our focus is now on looking at the practical and systems changes required to end rough sleeping for good.”
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