Making Connections to tackle homelessness

Combating homelessness effectively means making connections across traditional professional boundaries. That is the message two hundred delegates will hear at a major national homelessness conference held by the Scottish Council for Single Homeless (SCSH) in Edinburgh on Thursday and Friday this week.

Delegates from a range of professions – health, housing, police, armed services, youth projects and drugs and alcohol projects – will work through a crowded programme to try to make a real difference for homeless people.

SCSH Director, Robert Aldridge , comments:

"The climate has never been better for tackling homelessness. New legislation giving additional rights to homeless people has just been passed and there is a growing recognition at all levels of government that it is a major issue which must be tackled.

Homelessness remains at a high watermark, with around 45,000 homeless people asking councils for help each year. It is only by making sure that their health, employment and social support needs are met, as well as their need for accommodation, that we can stop the cycle of poverty and homelessness. 

The theme of our conference is ‘making connections.’ It will look at the roles of a wide range of professions in preventing, alleviating and tackling homeless effectively. We hope it will make a significant contribution to translating the goodwill towards tackling homelessness into concrete action."

Social Justice Minister Jackie Baillie, who chairs the Scottish Executive Homelessness Task Force will open the conference. Jackie Baillie said:

"The provisions in the Housing ( Scotland ) Act 2001 are an important first step in tackling homelessness - we have allocated £27 million to support homelessness strategies and the implementation of the new duties on local authorities to provide temporary accommodation and information and advice.

We will build on this, with the final report of the Homelessness Task Force. Our approach to tackling homelessness has been developed in partnership, taking account of the views of those most closely affected. That has helped in shaping a radical package of measures which will both assist in preventing homelessness and ensure that it is tackled effectively here it does occur."

Notes

1. Scottish Council for Single Homeless (SCSH) is the national membership body for organisations and individuals tackling homelessness.
2. The theme of this years SCSH National Homelessness Conference is "Making Connections"
3. The conference is on Thursday 8 th & Friday 9 th November in the Apex International Hotel, Grassmarket, Edinburgh .