Tag: Advice Direct Scotland

SWAP: Edinburgh launches innovative pilot to prevent homelessness

A new pilot aimed at preventing people from becoming homeless has officially been given the go-ahead in the Capital after the Council and partners were awarded funding from the Scottish Government.

The System Wide Approach to Prevention (SWAP) – ‘Ask and Act’ initiative will be piloted in Wester Hailes, providing earlier interventions and practical support to help people at risk of homelessness to remain in their homes.

The launch follows the recent passing of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 which places new legal duties on public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation and take action to prevent homelessness before it happens.

Across Scotland, 15 projects are sharing £4 million through the Homelessness Prevention Pilot Fund, administered by Advice Direct Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, to develop and test prevention pilots.

A team will now be created in the Capital which will include public and third-sector partners. They will be trialling new models of working to provide co-ordinated and timely support for individuals and households at risk of homelessness.

The ‘Ask’ and ‘Act’ duties will be embedded in everyday services provided by partners in the Wester Hailes area.

The services working in partnership with the Council to deliver these duties are NHS Lothian, Police Scotland, Prospect Community Housing, Social Security Scotland, Scottish Prison Service and Crisis.

This approach will allow them to identify what people need help earlier, offer support directly, and request further help and support via a single point of contact within the Council’s prevention services.

Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, Tim Pogson said: “This is fantastic news, being awarded just over £600k from a £4 million fund for the whole of Scotland is a tremendous endorsement of our proposal, and I’m grateful to the team who brought it together and partners for agreeing to be part of this.

“It will also help us boost our efforts to tackle the housing emergency facing the city. It’s exciting that work is already under way, and I’m confident we’ll see positive results in the new year.

“Preventing homelessness and supporting tenants before they reach crisis point is essential to ensuring as many people as possible have a secure home.

“Last year alone, our homelessness prevention services helped 2,622 households as part of our Local Housing Strategy, the city’s overarching strategy for housing and homelessness.”

Màiri McAllan, the Housing Secretary, Scottish Government, said: “We are determined to end homelessness – and the best way to do this is to prevent homelessness in the first place.

“This investment in prevention pilots will help us test and scale up innovative approaches to help people stay in their homes.

Helping households to manage their bills

More support for services to help people struggling with energy bill debt

Services that support people struggling with debt on their energy bills have been expanded after receiving almost £1 million of additional funding.

This will help organisations to provide money and debt advice to customers, increase capacity through additional training for staff, and enhance engagement with energy suppliers to facilitate fairer and more sustainable debt solutions for customers.

£944,000 has been allocated equally between Citizens Advice Scotland, StepChange Debt Charity and Advice Direct Scotland.

Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan announced the investment at the beginning of Talk Money Week, an annual campaign from the Money and Pensions Service to increase awareness of personal finance issues.

Ms McAllan said: “In an energy rich country like Scotland, nobody should be struggling to pay their energy bills.

“The UK Government said energy bills were going to come down, but they’ve only gone up and could rise further still.

“That underlines the importance of our investment in services that support those who are struggling the most.

“Advice agencies like Citizens Advice Scotland, Stepchange and Advice Direct Scotland, play a vital role delivering this support and we will continue to work closely with them to ease the burden of the cost of living and help those who need it.”

The funding is part of a £16.9 million package being invested in free income maximisation and debt advice.

Sharon Bell, Head of StepChange Debt Charity Scotland, commented: “Scotland is facing an energy debt crisis and more and more clients are coming to StepChange Debt Charity Scotland with spiralling energy arrears.

“We welcome this additional funding from the Scottish Government which is allowing us to provide vital energy debt advice to more people across Scotland right when it is needed the most.”

Talk Money Week runs from November 3 to November 7.

Scottish Government: Further investment to prevent homelessness

£4 million for pilot projects

A fund for pilot projects to help people to stay in their homes has been launched by Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan.

Managed by Advice Direct Scotland, the £4 million fund will support organisations to pilot new ‘ask and act’ measures. These duties, as part of the Housing (Scotland) Bill currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament, will require bodies such as health boards, the police and prison service to take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness.

This Programme for Government commitment builds on an existing Scottish Government investment of £1 million from the homelessness prevention fund.

During her visit to West Granton Housing Co-operative in North Edinburgh Ms McAllan found out more about their ‘Get Settled’ project which supports 400 households who are homeless, or facing homelessness, across Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian and Fife.

Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan said: “We are determined to end homelessness – and the best way to do this is to prevent homelessness in the first place. This investment in prevention pilots will help us test and scale up innovative approaches to help people stay in their homes.

“By taking action to prevent homelessness and reduce demand on the homelessness system, we can help ease the housing emergency.  

“Projects such as West Granton Housing Co-operative’s ‘Get Settled’ demonstrates how targeted support can transform lives by not only helping people to find a home but supporting them to settle into their communities.

“By working with housing associations, registered social landlords and other third sector partners we are building the foundations for legislation in the forthcoming Housing Bill to help prevent homelessness.”

Chief executive of Advice Direct Scotland Andrew Bartlett said: “Advice Direct Scotland is proud to be at the centre of such a landmark moment for homelessness prevention.

“The new ‘ask and act’ provisions shift the focus from crisis intervention towards proactive prevention which could save many people from enduring the trauma of homelessness.

“We look forward to working with organisations across sectors in Scotland to help people at risk of homelessness.”

Maeve McGoldrick, head of policy and communications for Crisis Scotland, said: “Far too many people in Scotland are being forced to experience the trauma and indignity of homelessness in circumstances where, with the right help, it could have been prevented.

“These new legal duties, requiring public services to ask people at risk of homelessness about their housing situation, then act to offer support if needed, will help change that.

“But these plans are a world-first, and for the changes to be effective it’s vital we test out how they will work in practice, before the new protections are rolled out across the country. By running a series of pilots on the new homelessness prevention duties we can make sure those working in health, justice, education and beyond are fully prepared to play a greater role in ending homelessness in Scotland.”

‘Ask and Act’ – advice.scot

The West Granton Housing Co-operative administers £260,000 in grant funding for Get Settled ARCHIE services via seven housing associations who are members of the Alliance of Registered Co-operatives and Housing Associations, Independent in Edinburgh (ARCHIE).

Fuel Insecurity Fund: support for those who need it most

Delivering even more tailored support to tens of thousands of households is at the heart of a major expansion of this year’s Fuel Insecurity Fund.

The First Minister announced in March that the Fund will be tripled to £30 million this year. Details have now been announced of how the additional funding will be used to help those who need it most through new and existing services.

This includes £5 million for one-to-one mentoring for households to be provided by a new funding partner, The Wise Group, as part of a longer-term approach to tackling poverty and its causes.

Households will also be helped through additional funding being directed to existing delivery partners, including:

  • £9 million to enable Advice Direct Scotland to administer Home Heating Support Fund grants to those struggling with the rapid increase in gas, electricity and oil prices
  • £8.5 million for the Fuel Bank Foundation to rapidly support more than 85,000 households, including those with prepayment meters and at risk of imminent disconnection
  • £7.25 million to enable the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to provide more than 55,000 households across Scotland with advice, support with bills and energy- saving items

Details of the additional support were announced ahead of an anti-poverty summit being convened by the First Minister tomorrow (Wednesday). Those with direct experience of poverty, as well as experts from the public, private and third sectors, will take part.

Energy Minister Gillian Martin visited Advice Direct Scotland’s Glasgow headquarters to meet advisers and learn more about how they are supporting people who are struggling to heat their homes.

She said: “The Fuel Insecurity Fund has been and continues to be a direct lifeline for many thousands of households, which is why the First Minister acted swiftly and decisively to triple the Fund to £30 million this year. We want to support even more people facing unprecedented rises in the cost of energy.

“Whilst the key energy policy levers remain with the UK Government, one of our interdependent missions as a government is to tackle poverty and protect people from the impact of the current cost of living crisis, which is why we have taken this action.

“The UK Government has continually failed to take the necessary steps to support people now and make the necessary changes – which only it can take – to ensure households and businesses never experience an energy crisis like this again.

“This includes reversing its decision to end the Energy Bills Support Scheme and making essential reforms to the energy market so the link between the price of electricity and the cost of gas is permanently broken.”

Conor Forbes, Director of Business Development and Policy at Advice Direct Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Scottish Government again to support Scottish citizens struggling with the cost-of-living and energy bills.

“With the UK Government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme coming to an end, many are finding themselves having to cut back on energy to afford other things. It’s important that anyone who is struggling reaches out for support.

“Advice Direct Scotland runs a number of services that can offer assistance in various areas related to the cost-of-living, including energy, debt, and support with benefits applications.”

Sean Duffy, Chief Executive Officer at The Wise Group, said: “It’s great to see the Scottish Government taking action to help households struggling with fuel insecurity and poverty.

“We’re proud to be a new funding partner for the Fuel Insecurity Fund, and excited about the opportunity to provide tailored, one-to-one Relational Mentoring to households in need.

“We know that everyone’s situation is different, so we’re committed to taking a personalised approach to support each household in a way that supports sustainable change. We’ve had great success stories, and we’re looking forward to making a real difference to people’s lives through this initiative.”

More information on the Fuel Insecurity Fund