Crisis

Jon Sparkes More than 24,000 people in Britain will spend Christmas sleeping rough, on public transport, or in tents – far more than there were five years ago, according to new figures.

Jon Sparkes As the publication of the Scottish Government’s new Action Plan for Ending Homelessness Together was debated in the Scottish Parliament last week and received cross-party backing, Jon Sparkes, Crisis chief executive and chair of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG)

Vital coaching services delivered by national homelessness charity Crisis have received a welcome boost of £1,042,729 from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The money raised by players of November’s draw will enable Crisis to support 700 homeless people with complex needs to access the char

Rough sleeping prevention and a shift towards rapid rehousing are among the key aims of a new Scottish Government action plan to bring an end to homelessness in Scotland. The Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan sets out measures for national and local government and the third sector who provide

Grant Campbell Grant Campbell has been appointed as the new Skylight director for Crisis in Edinburgh. Grant has been the chief executive of Glasgow City Mission since 2013 and will take up the position in March 2019.

In a week where the Scottish Government prepares to publish its action plan on tackling homelessness, a cross-party group of MSPs has called for the introduction of a seven-day limit for B&B use as temporary accommodation. In a letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the MSPs suggest changing

MPs have called on the UK Government to urgently reassess its benefit sanctions regime after a new report found that the evidence that the policy is achieving its aims is at best mixed, and at worst showing a policy that appears “arbitrarily punitive”. A Benefit Sanctions report published by the

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) could begin to record the number of homeless deaths across the country after it pledged to conduct a review of its policy and practice. Senior figures working to tackle homelessness last month called on the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland to urgently inves

Homelessness charity Crisis has called for a seven-day limit on the use of temporary accommodation in Scotland after new research revealed the detrimental impact it can have on the lives of homeless people. The charity’s report charts the experience of 74 people living in B&Bs, hotels or unsup

David Orr In the latest in a series of blogs looking back at his time as chief executive of the National Housing Federation, David Orr writes why he thinks some people say housing associations have lost their social purpose (and why it’s simply not true).

New measures which aim to “rebalance” the relationship between landlords and residents are to be considered as part of government proposals on social housing in England. A green paper published today includes plans to speed up the complaints process and publish league tables to highlight the per

Housing and homelessness organisations in England have welcomed commitments in the UK government's new rough sleeping strategy, while calling for bold plans to tackle the causes of homelessness. A joint statement was issued today by members of the strategy's Rough Sleeping Advisory Group: Crisis, Ho

Jon Sparkes Jon Sparkes blogs on the final set of recommendations from the Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Action Group which have been accepted by the Scottish Government.

Scotland is in the spotlight today as nearly 250 people gather at the Albert Halls in Stirling for the Housing First Scotland conference. To be opened by Kevin Stewart MSP, minister for local government and housing, the day will hear how Scotland has now placed Housing First firmly at the heart of a

Shelter Scotland has urged the Scottish Government to act quickly to prevent the recent progress on homelessness being reversed after new “shocking” new figures revealed an annual increase in homelessness applications. Official homelessness and housing options statistics, published in two report