4. ASSESSMENTS
Overview
4.1 Table 1 provides the main summary statistics on the progress of homelessness applications, analysed by the year in which the application was received by the council. The year of application is also the basis by which we measure progress against national indicator 28 - "All unintentionally homeless households will be entitled to settled accommodation by 2012" 10. However, it takes time for councils to assess a homelessness application. As a consequence, 774 applications in 2009-10 have yet to be assessed. To provide a clearer picture of patterns of assessment this section of the report presents analyses of assessments based on the year the assessment was made, rather than the year of application.
4.2 In 2009-10, councils assessed 42,921 applications as either homeless or threatened with homelessness. This is an increase of 939 (2%) since 2008-09. Of the homeless assessments, 36,643 (85%) were assessed as priority. The proportion of those assessed as homeless/ threatened with homelessness who are also assessed as priority has increased in each year since 2000-01. Over the period, all households with children have been assessed as priority and the main impact of the 2012 homelessness commitment has been that increasing numbers and proportions of other, mainly single person, households have been assessed as priority. Chart 14 shows the impact of these changes on the number and characteristics of priority households. In 2000-01, the largest group in priority need were single parent households with parent aged 26 or over. By 2009-10, single people aged between 26 and retirement were the largest priority group, their numbers having increased from a little over 5,000 in 2000-01 to 10,901 in 2009-10.
4.3 Table 6d shows that, of the 6,278 non-priority homeless assessments in 2009-10, 4,520 (72%) were single male households. A further 1,273 (20%) were single females, with another 450 (7.2%) being couples without children and the remaining 35 being other households without children.
Chart 14: Number of applicants assessed as priority by broad household type: Scotland: 2001-02 and 2009-10
4.4 The assessment decision also varies according to other background characteristics of the applicant. Of the 4,625 applications assessed as homeless in 2009-10 where the main reason for presenting as homeless was a violent or abusive dispute within the household, 4531 (98%) were assessed as priority homeless; of the 816 homeless households where the main reason for presenting as homeless was harassment, 792 (97%) were accorded priority; out of 1064 homeless households fleeing non-domestic violence, 1036 (97%) were assessed as priority. There were 344 households assessed as homeless where the main reason for presenting was the loss of service/ tied accommodation, of whom 244 (71%) were assessed as priority. (Chart 15.)
Chart 15: Applications assessed in 2009-10 by main reason for application: Scotland: 2009-10
Progress towards the 2012 homelessness commitment
4.5 In 2003, the Scottish Parliament passed the Homelessness (Scotland) Act which, among other things, set the objective that, by December 2012, all unintentionally homeless households would be entitled to settled accommodation. This objective, which is one of the Scottish Government's 45 National Indicators, is generally referred to as the 2012 homelessness commitment. At present, those with a priority assessment are entitled to settled accommodation, while those assessed as non-priority are entitled to temporary accommodation and advice and assistance only. Progress towards the commitment can be tracked by the number and proportion of homeless applicants assessed as priority; with the aim that 100% of homeless will be assessed as priority by December 2012.
4.6 Table 6a shows each council's progress annually towards the 2012 commitment since 2007-08 and table 6b shows quarterly progress since 2007-08. Key points are:-
- 9 local authorities assessed over 90% of homeless as priority, including Angus who assessed 100% as priority.
- The 8 others include:
- Dundee, who assessed 99% as priority over the year and 100% in the most recent quarter (Jan-Mar 2010).
- West Dunbartonshire, who assessed 98% as priority in 2009-10, and
- Renfrewshire, who assessed 96% of homeless as priority in 2009-10.
- In 16 local authority areas, between 80 and 90% of homeless were assessed as priority; in 4 areas, between 70 and 80% were assessed as priority; and in 3 local authority areas, between 60 and 70% of homeless were assessed as priority.
- In 24 of the 32 Scottish local authorities, the proportion of homeless assessed as priority was greater in 2009-10 than in 2008-09.
- In the three local authority areas (East Lothian, Scottish Borders and Shetland) where under 70% of homeless were accorded priority, the proportion has decreased since 2008-09.
- In Stirling, the proportion of homeless assessed as priority increased between 2008-09 and 2009-10 by 18 percentage points to 88%. In Dundee, the proportion increased by 10 percentage points to 99%.
Support needs of homeless households
4.7 Of the 42,921 households assessed as homeless in 2009-10, 13,569 (32%) were assessed as having one or more support needs. ( Table 7.) A higher proportion of applicants in priority need (36%) were assessed as having one or more support needs. Of those with support needs, 4,963 (12% of all assessed as homeless) required support because of mental health, 4,904 (11%) required support on skills for independent living and 4,359 (10%) required support because of alcohol or dependency problems.
4.8 For applicants assessed as priority, councils record reasons why the household has priority. Councils must identify at least one reason for the priority assessment, but more than 1 reason can be given. In 2009-10, the main reasons for priority assessment were that the household had dependent children (35% of all priority assessments), the household was fleeing domestic violence or abuse (12%), mental illness or personality disorder of a household member (10%) and a household member vulnerable for other special reasons (17%). In addition, 19% of cases had the reason "according to local policy" selected. This reflects an effort by councils to increase the proportion of cases assessed as priority moving towards 2012. (Chart 18.)
Chart 16: Percentage homeless assessed as priority in 2008-09 and 2009-10
Chart 17: Identified support needs of homeless households: Scotland: 2009-10
Chart 18 : Scotland: Reasons for priority assessment: 2009-10
