Tag: early intervention

Homelessness prevention pilots extended across Scotland

Almost £1m to support ‘ask and act’ projects ahead of implementation of new legislation

Projects helping to prevent homelessness across Scotland will continue until the end of this financial year following additional Scottish Government funding of £945,000.

The Homelessness Prevention Pilots test approaches to early intervention and prevention. This fund will help organisations deliver ‘ask and act’ measures – new duties proposed in the Housing (Scotland) Bill that require public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation early – and take action to prevent homelessness before it happens.

The extra funding is in addition to £4 million announced for the pilots in August last year and the extension will help maintain prevention capacity while final evaluation findings are completed and considered.

Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville will visit an ‘ask and act’ pilot project in Edinburgh’s Wester Hailes today. Crisis, which is a partner in the project, has also published a report setting out what successful prevention looks like and how to get there.

Ms Somerville said: “Preventing homelessness before it happens is one of the most important steps we can take to improve people’s lives.

“The work being carried out through these pilots is helping us understand how services can work together to identify risk earlier, intervene sooner and provide the support people need to stay in their homes and that is why I am pleased to confirm funding to extend them until March.

“This extension will ensure that valuable learning continues, that specialist expertise is retained, and that partners are supported as we prepare for the implementation of Scotland’s new homelessness prevention duties.

“Our aim is clear: to shift from managing homelessness crises to preventing them in the first place. We are investing more than £213 million this year – partly through the local government settlement – on homelessness measures aimed at delivering better outcomes for individuals, families and communities across Scotland.

“We have a shared ambition with Crisis to end homelessness, it is helpful to see the Changing Course report it has published today, which estimates the costs and the benefits of our new homelessness prevention duties.”

Maeve McGoldrick, Head of Policy at Crisis Scotland said: “Crisis Scotland genuinely welcomes today’s announcement as a strong message that preventing homelessness is a top priority for government.

“The prevention pilots show what is possible when services step in early, and from our frontline experience in Wester Hailes we have seen people keep their home when they would otherwise have been pushed towards homelessness.

“Extending the funding for the next few months provides much needed continuity to all services involved in this innovative work. Importantly, it also allows time to plan for the important next stage: scaling up the learning and best practice across Scotland, in time for national commencement in 2028.”

Scottish charity Right There has welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to extend funding for homelessness prevention pilots but highlights that early intervention and prevention must become the norm when dealing with homelessness. 

Janet Haugh, CEO of Right There said: “Today’s funding announcement is a very positive signal that the Scottish Government is taking prevention seriously when it comes to homelessness, and while we support any measure to address homelessness in a preventative manner we know that housing is not the sole cause of the problem.

“We need to move towards a more holistic approach that addresses issues such as poverty, mental health, addiction, and family breakdown which all contribute to people losing their homes, if we are serious about ending homelessness for good.”

The Scottish Government has today announced almost £1m to extend pilot projects to help organisations deliver ‘act and ask’ measures brought in under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2026 once the legislation is implemented. 

The measures will impose duties requiring public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation with the aim of being able to take action before homelessness occurs. 

Janet Haugh added: “As a nation we are very good at dealing with crises but not so good at putting measures in place to prevent them in the first place.

“We welcome the extension to fund ‘ask and act’ pilots and we hope this will be part of a long term preventative strategy which will address the root causes of homelessness and signal a move away from jumping from one crisis to the next.” 

Ask and act measures are expected to commence nationally in 2028. 

the-homelessness-monitor-scotland-2026Download

Burnham confident every rough sleeper will have route off the street by Christmas as funding doubles

  • Prime Minister sets out confidence that everyone sleeping rough will be offered route off the street before Christmas, backed by a further £432 million to sustain support beyond this winter
  • New funding to be outlined funding to be confirmed at the Budget on Wednesday, taking total investment behind the Prime Minister’s commitment to £874 million 
  • First-ever Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street brings together businesses, charities and local leaders to mobilise action, with major organisations pledging homes, jobs and practical support 

The Prime Minister yesterday set out his confidence that everyone sleeping rough will be offered a route off the street or wider support before Christmas, as he announced a further £432 million to help deliver the ambition and sustain support for years to come. 

The additional funding, to be set out at the Budget later this week, reflects the Prime Minister’s determination to make tackling rough sleeping a national priority. It will extend support beyond March 2027 and through to the end of this Parliament, taking total investment behind his commitment to £874 million. 

It marks the next stage of the pledge the Prime Minister made on his first day in Downing Street: to stop accepting rough sleeping as a fact of life and unite the country behind a mission to end it. 

Urgent action is already under way, with specialist outreach teams and new bedspaces operating in Coventry, and further provision being rolled out in places including Plymouth and Camden over the coming weeks. Backed by the initial £442 million, the programme is focused on ensuring everyone who needs it is offered a route off the streets before Christmas. 

Yesterday’s additional investment will ensure that support does not end when winter does, providing continuity for frontline services and helping people move into settled accommodation and rebuild their lives. 

But government cannot end rough sleeping alone. That is why the Prime Minister hosted the first-ever Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street, bringing together businesses, charities, housing providers and local leaders to mobilise the resources, expertise and commitment needed to deliver lasting change. 

Organisations attending the summit are making significant new commitments.

The National Housing Federation will work with housing associations to identify at least 2,000 potential homes and bedspaces, including empty properties that could be brought back into use. Virgin Media O2 will provide practical digital support to frontline organisations, while L’Oréal Group will launch a pioneering Social Salon partnership with St Mungo’s and Haircuts4Homeless. 

Together, these commitments will help people access not just a safe place to stay, but the homes, employment opportunities and support they need to build a more secure future. 

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:  “Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t.  

“Well I don’t accept it. That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this Parliament too.   

“But we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleeping, we need every part of society behind us on this. So today we’re bringing together businesses, charities and local leaders in Downing Street to make sure this is a solution that lasts.”  

Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner said: “This is a big ambition – we know that. But we will not back down from making sure everyone has the offer of a route off the streets this Christmas.

“This summit is about bringing every part of society together behind that mission. Ending homelessness is not only a moral imperative – it will make our communities and our country better off.”  

“The first step is giving people a roof over their head and freedom from the nightly struggle to find somewhere safe to sleep. But Christmas is only the beginning and that’s why we will keep working together to tackle the root causes of homelessness and end rough sleeping for good.”  

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey said: “No one should ever have to sleep rough, which is why we are doubling our investment to more people and providing a chance to break the cycle and end sleeping on the streets of our country – not just this Christmas, but for the years to come.”  

Monday’s Summit brought organisations from across society together to play their part, with new pledges including:  

  • National Housing Federation working with housing associations to identify at least 2000 potential homes and bedspaces, including empty homes for people moving off the streets, working closely with local authorities.  
  • Social Bite forming a new partnership with the government to expand its modular supported accommodation model, combining a settled home with intensive and community-based support.   
  • Salvation Army working with their housing association Salvation Army Homes and public-sector partners to develop social housing, modular accommodation and move-on options, including provision for people with complex needs for whom mainstream accommodation may not be suitable.  
  • UnLtd / Key Fund partnering with government to help social ventures create sustainable jobs for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.  
  • Virgin Media O2 providing new support around devices, data and connectivity, in partnership with charity Refuge, helping women and their children affected by domestic abuse and experiencing homelessness stay connected to services and support.  
  • IKEA combining direct funding, advocacy, employment programmes, community partnerships, and customer and public awareness-raising campaigns to tackle both the immediate impacts and underlying causes of homelessness.  
  • L’Oreal Group launching an innovative ‘Social Salon’ partnership in the UK with St Mungo’s andHaircuts4Homeless, supporting rough sleepers with wellbeing provision.  
  • Morrisons Foundation pledging to launch the Good Food Fund, providing £500,000 in grants to support communities to tackle food insecurity where it hits hardest, including supporting charities providing relief to people who are sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness, in support of the Prime Minister’s drive.   
  • ReGenerate launching a partnership with Liverpool City Region, in coordination with the Liverpool Mayor’s new Homelessness Taskforce, to find ways in which businesses can do even more to tackle homelessness such as through driving pathways into employment across the region  
  • Comic Relief committing further resources to tackle homelessness and housing insecurity, helping to raise public support and awareness in 2027.  
  • Landsec offering access to its screens at Piccadilly and others across its retail portfolio to amplify homelessness charities and causes nationwide.   
  • The Faith and Homelessness Collective, mobilising action across a group of 100+ church leaders and leaders of faith-inspired homelessness and housing organisations to support the PM’s instruction to offer everyone a route off the streets this winter and prevention in the long-term.  
  • Over 30 organisations and investors from the impact economy – representing billions of pounds – signalling support to the PM’s drive and working with Government to bring more investment into move-on homes, support the organisations that help people stay housed, open up jobs and training, and put more money into prevention.  
  • A coalition of philanthropic funders signalling their commitment to millions of pounds of investment into preventing homelessness, including a £10 million commitment from Julia Rausing Trust, and Henry Smith Foundation providing £500,000 of match funding with Birmingham City Council, to support Greater Change in providing relational support to rough sleepers in the city.  

Supporting people at risk of homeslessness

A new prevention-focused approach and rapid rehousing will be at the heart of work reduce homelessness in Scotland over the next five years.

The Scottish Government unveiled plans for a shift in approach from crisis management to prevention as part of this year’s Programme for Government.

Measures to tackle homelessness include:

  • an additional 1,500 Housing First tenancies, supporting people with complex care needs into permanent housing
  • continued roll-out of the Homelessness Prevention Fund of £50 million over 10 years
  • £1 million from the Homelessness Prevention Fund for the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Homeless Network Scotland to strengthen tenancy sustainment activity by registered social landlords in Glasgow
  • £2 million for the ‘fund to leave’ scheme to become permanent, offering support for women and children to leave an abusive partner.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing Shirley-Anne Somerville visited homelessness charity Simon Community Scotland in Edinburgh, which is involved in two Scottish Government prevention pilot projects.

One is in partnership with Police Scotland while the other is in partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service – which will enable police officers and ambulance staff to identify housing instability and homelessness risk and provide tailored individual support.

Ms Somerville said: “The best way to end homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place. That is why we are shifting our approach from crisis management to prevention and rapid rehousing.

“We will do all we can over this Parliament to help people off the streets and end the use of unsafe and harmful temporary accommodation.

“I was pleased to meet staff and tenants at Simon Community Scotland Streetreads library to hear first-hand how their early identification of housing problems is helping to make a real difference to people’s lives. Their homelessness prevention pilots are generating valuable learning and knowledge transfer, and we want to replicate this across the country.

“Over the next five years we will drive progress through our £50 million Homelessness Prevention Fund, our Housing First programme which will provide 1,500 permanent tenancies for people experiencing homelessness, and our £2 million for the ‘fund to leave’ scheme which supports women to leave an abusive partner.

“Our record investment of up to £4.9 billion over the next five years will deliver around 36,000 affordable homes.”

Programme for Government 2026 to 2031 – gov.scot

Expert group to help tackle reoffending and protect young people

New social impact partnership supported by £200,000

Proposals to help cut reoffending and keep young people safe from crime and anti-social behaviour are to be developed through an innovative new partnership funding approach.

The Justice Social Impact Partnership (SIP), supported by £200,000 of Scottish Government funding, is a new way of developing and funding interventions. It brings together nine organisations – across service providers, funders and public bodies – to design three project proposals by the end of March 2027.

The Justice SIP will focus on:

  • creating safe spaces for young people
  • diverting young people from crime and anti-social behaviour
  • preventing reoffending and supporting reintegration into communities

Social Investment Partnerships ask investors to provide upfront funding for a project, and they are repaid based on the outcomes it achieves, allowing new ideas to be tested without financial risk to the public purse if they don’t succeed.

This work is also expected to help inform how similar funding and delivery models might be used elsewhere in government.

Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, said: “Preventing violence and diverting young people away from crime means working across the whole system, with police, charities, communities and investors all playing a part.

“This partnership brings together that breadth of expertise to design practical projects that give young people safe spaces and trusted adults, and support people to move away from crime and rebuild their lives.

“It builds on our existing commitment to prevention, including our continued investment in Cashback for Communities, and creates a new way of bringing funding into our communities so that early intervention work can be tested, proven and scaled.”

The following organisations form the membership of the Justice Social Impact
Partnership:

The Scottish Government
Social Investment Scotland
The Growth Partnership
The Robertson Trust
YMCA Tayside
Community Justice Scotland
National Social Work Agency Scotland
Bean Research (evaluation)
University of Oxford’s Government Outcomes Lab (evaluation)

The fund will support the partnership’s work over the coming months, including technical, financial and legal expertise needed to develop robust, investable projects

Acas updates its Code of Practice as formal disciplinaries estimated to cost employers 2 billion a year

Workplace expert, Acas, has today launched a consultation on updates to its Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures to promote early and informal resolution of concerns at work.

The new Code will help employers and workers handle concerns in a fair, transparent and timely way. Employers and workers have rights and responsibilities and handling concerns that come up early and informally can save on costs and stress at work.

Acas research on the annual cost of conflict has found that managing formal disciplinary and grievance procedures is estimated to cost UK employers £2.36 billion a year, while the annual cost of informal resolution is around ten times lower at £250 million.

Acas Chair, Baroness Maggie Jones, said: “Acas research shows that formal processes can be very costly for everyone involved. Effective early intervention in conflict saves money and time as well as promoting staff wellbeing and productivity.

“Our new Code reflects the benefits of handling work issues early and informally. It will help employers and workers handle concerns in a way that’s fair, transparent and timely. I would encourage everyone to take part in the consultation.”

Acas statutory Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures was last fully revised in 2009. It currently applies where there is potential for disciplinary action to be taken against a worker or where a worker raises a formal concern or grievance with their employer.

The purpose of the Code is to provide employers, workers and representatives with guidance on handling disciplinary and grievance situations in the workplace.

Employment tribunals must take the Code into account in relevant cases and can increase or reduce an award by up to 25% for unreasonable failure to follow the Code by an employer or worker. Size and resources of the organisation are taken into account.

As well as promoting the benefits of informal and early resolution of conflict, the draft updated Code also seeks views on how to improve handling formal procedures.

Acas has also published a new YouGov poll today, which asked British businesses about what options best help their organisations to resolve workplace conflict informally. The top three picked were:

  • Having a good working relationship with the other person (58%);
  • A shared willingness to find a solution (53%); and
  • A workplace culture that supports open conversations (52%).

The consultation on the draft Code closes on 23 September 2026.

To respond please see: https://www.acas.org.uk/about-us/acas-consultations/code-of-practice-disciplinary-grievance-2026

Scottish charity finds new way to tackle counselling access gap

A Scottish charity is using a new delivery model to tackle shortages in access to therapeutic support.

Right There, which works across Scotland to prevent homelessness and support families, has widened its existing counselling provision to help more people access support earlier, before issues reach crisis point.

The approach uses a supervised placement model, with counselling delivered by postgraduate counselling students – initially from the University of Strathclyde, Queen Margaret College, Grounded Learning, and the Centre of Therapy – who are closely supported by an experienced Supervising Counsellor.

The announcement was made to help Right There to mark National Mental Health Awareness Week, 11th to 17th May. 

The expanded service builds on Right There’s established counselling work, including its long running service in Orkney, and will offer young people and adults the option of in-person support delivered at hubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh, or online sessions for people in other parts of the country. 

One young woman who accessed counselling through Right There’s service in Orkney, said: “Right There Counselling was the helping hand I needed to pull myself through some immensely difficult situations in my life.

“Having that support a message away, knowing I could talk unfiltered and receive not only strong in-person advice and support, but referrals to practical help for my situation.

“All this really gave me the leg up I needed to rebuild a new safer life for myself, as my true self, when I had few places to turn. This is an invaluable service for young people.”

The counselling service offers a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space for young people and adults to talk openly about what is affecting their lives and their mental health. Counselling helps to reduce isolation and prevents symptoms from worsening during lengthy waiting times.

Elvira Kesoglou, Supervising Counsellor at Right There, said: “We know that demand for counselling support has grown significantly across the country, but access has not kept pace.

“For some years now we have been funding a popular counselling service to people accessing our programmes in Orkney, but we are desperate to expand our care out to the rest of Scotland. 

“This new model allows us to widen that access safely and affordably, while maintaining the quality, supervision and person-centred care that people deserve. It also helps us support the next generation of counsellors in a structured and ethical way.”

The initial service will only be available for people referred through Right There’s programmes. The charity plans to continue developing the service over the coming year, with scope to introduce additional therapeutic approaches as capacity grows.

Tackling drug deaths

Funding allocated to early intervention and women’s support services

Services helping women affected by drugs and preventing substance use by young people are to benefit from more than £2 million funding.

Minister for Drugs Policy Maree Todd announced the support during a statement to the Scottish Parliament on the National Records of Scotland latest statistics on drug misuse deaths. These showed a decrease of 13% to 1,017 compared to the previous year.

Recognising additional challenges faced by women who use drugs, £1.1 million has been awarded to Aberlour Children’s Charity for its perinatal support and recovery services. In Glasgow, £750,000 will be delivered through the Corra Foundation to make it easier for women affected by substance use to access services.

The ‘Winning Scotland’s Planet Youth’ initiative, which aims to create an environment that consistently supports young people to make healthy choices, has been allocated £750,000 to continue its work. NRS statistics for last year noted a drop in the number of deaths among young people from drugs, with 34 under-25s compared with 58 in 2023.

Ms Todd said: “I want to express my deepest condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the 1,017 people who lost their lives to drugs in 2024.

“Our National Mission on Drugs has delivered a number of positive developments, including widening access to life-saving naloxone kits to reverse overdoses and creating more residential rehabilitation beds. It is welcome that we have seen progress with the number of deaths at the lowest level since 2017, but these tragic drug deaths figures remind us, however, that there is much more to do.

“To that end, we are providing record funding of more than £160 million for alcohol and drugs in 2025-26. We will also accelerate the delivery of new initiatives, such as the drug checking pilot project. And subject to the Scottish Parliament’s agreement, we will be maintaining funding beyond next year to address harm caused by drugs and intensively support recovery.

“While there is nothing we can do to bring back those whose lives have been so tragically cut short, nor to ease the unimaginable grief that their loved-ones must feel, we will continue to do all we can to end the devastating impacts of drugs in Scotland.”

Pilot walk-in mental health and wellbeing service to close its doors

‘NO FAMILY RECEIVING SUPPORT WILL BE LEFT ALONE’

“The Haven passes the baton to SAMH, leaving behind a wonderful legacy, proving Scotland’s mental health crisis can be reversed.” – Roslyn Neely – CEO, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity 

A walk-in wellbeing and resilience pilot, developed to tackle Scotland’s mental health crisis will come to an end in the summer, after demonstrating unquestionably that early intervention can reduce mental health challenges among children and young people. 

The Haven opened at The Fraser Centre, Tranent in September 2023 under Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity’s ‘No Time To Wait’ strategy. It later moved to bigger premises in Haddington due to demand, and since opening the service has attracted 3,461 visits. Of these, 2,041 were children and young people and 1,420 were their affected family members. 

Roslyn Neely, CEO of Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity said: “We are incredibly sad that our pilot wellbeing and resilience service is coming to an end, but that was always our intention, as a charity we couldn’t fund this forever. 

“However we will close our doors with a huge sense of pride in what The Haven has achieved and a promise to all families receiving support that we will not turn our backs on them, we will continue to provide vital assistance, ensuring that the care and connection established through The Haven remain a core part of our work.”

Scotland’s national mental health charity, Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH), has recently announced The Nook, a network of mental health support hubs, which will build on the foundations laid by ECHC and the team at The Haven, marking a significant step forward for mental health support in Scotland, and beyond. 

Roslyn Neely continued: “We are delighted that our work will now contribute to a long-term, sustainable national approach to Scotland’s mental health crisis.

“The Haven passes the baton to SAMH, leaving behind a wonderful legacy, proving Scotland’s mental health crisis can be reversed, and we celebrate the fact that a major organisation like SAMH is stepping in to continue this important work. 

“Their ability to advocate for long-term government support means that children’s mental health remains firmly on the national agenda, and we wholeheartedly support this.”

The Haven is a groundbreaking two-year pilot which has successfully supported hundreds of families who have a child struggling with their mental health. Critically, it uses a walk-in format with no waiting lists.

The Haven takes a unique whole family approach, supporting not just the individual struggling with mental health challenges, but their parents, grandparents, siblings and carers.

Edinburgh Community Health Forum calls for immediate halt to ‘misguided’ funding cuts

The recent announcement by the Integrated Joint Board (IJB) regarding the disinvestment from up to 64 community organisations as part of its recovery plan for 2025/26 has ignited significant outrage among Third Sector, including members of the Edinburgh Community Health Forum (ECHF). 

This drastic cut threatens the very fabric of our community support systems and undermines our collective commitment to health and wellbeing in Edinburgh, said ECHF’s Strategic Development Manager, Stephanie-Anne Harris.

Stephanie-Anne vehemently criticised the decision, stating: “This disinvestment will lead to the closure of numerous charities and an increased reliance on statutory services, including the NHS and Council.

“Furthermore, it contradicts the Scottish Government’s and Public Health Scotland’s advocacy for prevention and early intervention strategies.

“Evidence overwhelmingly supports that investing in prevention is one of the most cost-effective methods to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities.

“This short-term approach to achieving savings is fundamentally misguided.”

Historically, core funding for the Third Sector was managed by the Council before being transferred to the IJB.

The current proposed cuts pose a severe threat to organisations that provide essential services to some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable residents.

Catriona Windle, Chair of ECHF and CEO of Health All Round, a charity dedicated to supporting residents in Gorgie Dalry, Saughton, Stenhouse, and surrounding areas, added: “We call for an immediate halt to cuts scheduled for 2025 and urge the IJB to engage in meaningful discussions with the sector about sustainable funding solutions.

“While we recognise the need for budgetary considerations, we cannot afford to compromise on the vital support that Third Sector organisations provide. We propose delaying cuts until September 2025 to allow for a proper conversation about the future.

“The IJB must recognise that resourcing for the Third Sector is not non-essential; it is crucial for the wellbeing of our communities.

“We implore Council leaders and the IJB to consider resuming full responsibility for funding these vital services or to engage the Third Sector in developing a strategic funding model that ensures ongoing investment in our collective health.”

EDINBURGH Integration Joint Board meets on Friday 1 November at 10am in the Dean of Guilds Room at the City Chambers.

See below for meeting papers – including details of the cuts being recommended:

EIJB-Public reports pack 01112024Download

REFORM SCOTLAND: Time for action instead of ‘perpetual talk’ on local government powers

Think tank calls more financial controls to be devolved from Holyrood to local authorities

Reform Scotland, the independent, non-partisan think tank, has today released its response to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee’s call for views on the sustainability of local government finances.

The think tank suggests that successive Holyrood governments have failed to create the conditions for sustainable local government, and that political discourse has been dominated by “perpetual talk without action”.

For example, nearly 15 years ago the Christie report highlighted the necessity of early intervention and preventative spending programmes. The importance of that report is regularly highlighted by politicians and policymakers, yet it has not been delivered upon.

To make matters worse, prevention programmes are often delivered by the third sector in collaboration with local authorities, and with councils’ budgets under growing strain, all too often these programmes are first in the line for cuts.

In its response, Reform Scotland calls for:

  • Collaboration on new approaches for financing local government activity, such as social bridging finance
  • The end to central government interference in the setting of Council Tax rates, and an empowerment of local authorities to consider the adjustment of bands and exemptions
  • More fiscal powers to be devolved to local authorities to allow them to respond to local needs

Reform Scotland Director, Chris Deerin, said: “During the 25 years of devolution, we have focused on the transfer of powers between Westminster and Holyrood, but we have taken our eye off the ball when it comes to the power of local authorities.

“Unfortunately, in that time we have seen Scotland become further centralised. This approach must end. Scotland is too diverse to presume that the solutions which can work for Edinburgh can work for Elgin, or those that work for Glasgow can work for Gairloch.

“We need to shift away from a drip-drip approach of devolving small, occasional powers, which simply encourages councils to come cap in hand to the Scottish Government, and towards empowerment and recognising that local communities are best placed to meet local needs.

“We have seen years of broad agreement that a one-size-fits-all approach cannot work, yet this has amounted to little more than perpetual talk, without action. Now is the time for action.”

The full response can be read here.

Increased support offered to Scottish families in relationship crisis across the country

Latest figures from Relationships Scotland show continued fallout from pandemic and cost of living crisis are having a negative impact on family life

Support for Scottish families seeking help to deal with relationship difficulties and family breakdown has increased by almost 40% in the last year, according to Relationships Scotland.

Relationships Scotland, the largest provider of relationship support in the country, has published its Annual Review highlighting the increase in support being offered to couples with relationship problems.

The figures for 2022/23 show that across the charity’s network of 21 member services, 86,000 hours of direct support were delivered, increasing from 62,000 the previous year. The figures also show the network provided support to over 14,400 people across the country, up from 13,850 in 2021/22.

Stuart Valentine, Chief Executive of Relationships Scotland said: “There is no doubt the pandemic and the cost of living crisis have put a strain on families and relationships, and these figures are a stark reminder of how acute this strain is.

“This is a significant increase in hours of support across the whole country, and while it paints a worrying picture of the pressures being felt across the nation, we are encouraged that people feel they have somewhere to turn, and are seeking help to deal with these issues.”

The Relationships Scotland network has a strong focus on early intervention and prevention, working with families as early as possible to support them to look at the issues they are facing and helping them avoid problems spiralling. The work of the 21 member services across the country is supported by around 900 people, including over 400 volunteers.

Stuart Valentine added: “The importance of positive and resilient relationships can not be underestimated, with the damage caused by relationship breakdown estimated to cost the Scottish economy around £3.5b each year.”