Five councils to share homelessness services

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

Five councils in Scotland are merging their homelessness services and developing a new IT system to create 'personalised plans' to help people avoid sleeping rough.

The Scottish Government has invested £140,000 to help Dundee, Perth & Kinross, Angus, Clackmannanshire and Fife councils to share services for homeless people.

As a first step a new IT system which creates personalised plans to help people avoid homelessness and find suitable accommodation is to be introduced in April.

Jimmy Black, convener of Dundee City Council's housing committee, said: "The idea is to prevent people becoming homeless if at all possible.

"Homelessness is very stressful and may involve finding storage for furniture, spending time in temporary accommodation and a long period of uncertainty.

"If we can ensure that people who are in danger of losing their home can either stay there, or move somewhere else before the crisis happens, then everyone benefits.

"The personalised plans will give people a clear idea of their housing options, with information about where to find housing, how to pay for it, sources of independent advice and other practical information."