The Ask and Act duties in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 became law on 6 November and will require relevant bodies to ask people they support about their housing situation and take action to prevent homelessness.

The 15 pilot projects to share £4 million of Scottish Government funding were revealed earlier this week.

Turning Point Scotland and Fife Council will use the funding until the end of December 2026 to deliver an innovative programme, Ask and Act Committed, to support relevant bodies within the area to prepare for Ask and Act duties. Support provided will involve the development and implementation of action plans through workshops and training. The progress of the pilot to be shared in real time over the length of the project.

Turning Point Scotland is involved in three of the 15 pilot projects announced. The other two projects include Integrated Prevention Pathways, led by Aberdeen Cyrenians and NL REACH (North Lanarkshire Responsive, Empowering, Accessible, Community Hub), led by North Lanarkshire Council.

The monies from the £4 million Homelessness Prevention Pilot Fund, administered by Advice Direct Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, are designed to support public bodies and their third sector partners to test and scale new approaches to early intervention.

The pilot in Fife links with the Whole System Approach partnership work between Turning Point Scotland and Fife Council and will benefit from the established working relationship.

Turning Point Scotland, head of homelessness and prevention, Nicky Miller said: “We are delighted that our Fife consortium has been chosen as a pilot project to test and learn how the new prevention duties could and will work. This is another example of pioneering work in partnership with Fife Council who continue to drive innovation and change to prevent homelessness happening in the first place.

“Our project is an innovative approach that helps make homeless prevention everyone’s business. It will support and drive change with named relevant bodies within the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 ensuring that each part of the systems gets stronger in relation to asking about someone’s housing situation and acting within their reasonable powers.”

Fife Council, Housing and Building Services spokesperson, Judy Hamilton, said: “Fife is delighted to be part of the Test and Learn Prevention pilot. As part of the wider innovative Whole Systems Approach work, this strengthens our collective effort to prevent homelessness in Fife. This funding enables us to work closely with Turning Point Scotland and other partners to support people in our communities before they reach crisis point.

“By combining local knowledge with compassionate, person-centred approaches, we can make a real difference in people’s lives.”