Today in the Herald:
The head of one of Scotland’s most influential charities has launched a scathing attack on Humza Yousaf over the nation’s “housing emergency” claiming the First Minister is “gaslighting” the country.
Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland – the leading housing and homelessness charity – spoke out as it emerged nearly 10,000 children are currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation, such as cheap hotels and B&Bs.
First, some facts:
The Guardian today has
There has been a dramatic rise in the number of homeless young people in the UK since Christmas, charities have warned.
The New Horizon Youth Centre in London said a record number of young people had asked it for help in the first week of January, while the charity Akt, which supports homeless LGBTQ+ young people, said it had seen more referrals than it would expect in a month. Roundabout in Sheffield and YMCA Trinity, which operates in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, also reported increases.
Research by the charity Centrepoint estimated that 135,800 young people approached their council as homeless in 2022-23 and Shelter said last month it believed an extra 40,000 people of all ages would be homeless at Christmas. But there is alarm at the rise in numbers since then.
There is only one reference to Scotland, in the Guardian report:
Kate Polson, chief executive of the Scottish youth homelessness charity Rock Trust, said: “Young people are doubly disadvantaged as they are more likely to be in insecure, low paid work and are less likely to have savings and references and we need to address this if we are to end youth homelessness.”https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/13/this-is-spiralling-alarm-as-youth-homelessness-soars-in-uk-since-christmas
No mention of an increase?
This is not the first time Shelter has mounted a campaign of deliberately context-free misinformation against the Scottish Government, in sharp contrast to Crisis UK.
In 2021, Crisis reported:
Rates of the worst forms of homelessness are significantly lower in Scotland than in England, new research from Heriot-Watt University has found.
The 2021 Homelessness Monitor Scotland – commissioned by homelessness charity Crisis and led by Heriot-Watt University – provides the most in-depth study of homelessness in GB.
The research found that the rate of ‘core homelessness’, which includes people rough sleeping, using unsuitable temporary accommodation such as B&Bs, sofa surfing or sleeping in garages or industrial premises, was almost twice as high in England than in Scotland.
Overall it found that 0.94% of households in England were experiencing a form of core homelessness, compared with 0.66% in Wales and 0.57% in Scotland, with the report identifying Scottish homelessness and housing policy as one cause of lower rates.
Researchers found that since 2012 England has had consistently higher rates of ‘core’ homelessness than both Scotland and Wales, with rates growing faster in England over that time.
These findings are a result of homelessness being a long-term priority for the Scottish Government. Recent progress was made when the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG), chaired by Crisis Chief Executive Jon Sparkes, was formed to examine what further action could be taken to tackle rough sleeping and end homelessness in Scotland.
https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/worst-forms-of-homelessness-less-common-in-scotland-than-england-research-finds/
See that last sentence where we note that the Scottish Government trusts a Crisis CE before, say, one from Shelter?
Shelter has a history of feeding the Herald and others with politicised commentary after feeling left out:
In January 2023:
SCOTLAND’S leading homelessness charity is to demand John Swinney reverses plans to cut affordable housing spending.https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23266180.john-swiney-urged-drop-devastating-cuts-affordable-homes/
The criticism comes from Shelter. When I saw that my memory banks twitched. See this from September 2021:
Regular visitors here will know that, according to research by the charity Crisis, the homeless rate in Scotland is about half that in England and the lowest in the UK. Full details here:
In the media reporting, limited of course, the other main homeless charity, Shelter, have not commented, yet once more they appear (above) to criticise the SNP Government.
A cursory read tells you that the Times headline is inaccurate nonsense but, equally, Shelter’s communication’s guy seems to deliberately misinterpret the phrase in Scottish Government funding contracts:
No part of the grant shall be used to fund any activity or material which is party political in intention, use or presentation or appears to be designed to affect support for a political party.
Given the news from Crisis, the SNP’s far far better record on building affordable housing, who should have most fear from Shelter attacking them?
The answer is, of course, the opposition parties, all of them, but try search for ‘BBC Scotland housing homeless Shelter’ and you’ll find Shelter feeding BBC Scotland with material to attack the SNP Government and, of course, largely ignoring what it has achieved.
Missing from the Herald report, the context:
From the Scottish Government in October 2022:
Across the 14 years between 2007/08 and 2020/21, the annual average supply of affordable housing per head of population in Scotland has been 13.9 homes per 10,000 population, higher than England (9.7 homes per 10,000 population), Wales (8.0 homes per 10,000 population), and Northern Ireland (13.0 homes per 10,000 population – average across the years 2010/11 to 2020/21).
The 9,757 affordable homes completed in Scotland in the latest financial year 2021/22 equates to a rate of 17.9 homes delivered per 10,000 population, the highest rate since 2007/08.https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-scotland-quarterly-update-new-housebuilding-affordable-housing-supply-published-04-october-2022/pages/7/
In the Guardian today:
Forty councils in England saw no social rent housing built in five years in the wake of government funding cuts, according to official figures analysed by the Observer. In 2010 the Conservative-led coalition slashed funding for subsidised housing by 60% and redirected the remaining money away from social rent and towards more expensive “affordable rent” housing.https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/nov/13/forty-councils-in-england-built-no-social-housing-for-five-years-due-to-cuts
Try finding mainstream media reporting of Shelter England protesting the somewhat more real crisis in affordable housing elsewhere in the UK. I found a few posted by Shelter themselves and the Big Issue but nothing picked up nationally.
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The article in question, ” Humza Yousaf is ‘gaslighting’ Scotland, says Shelter boss ” by Neil Mackay https://archive.ph/BueUu
Yet more raking over the coals of the SG budget by the Herald, but given the attack line promoted by Turdo et al to save Tory seats, it is hardly unexpected, even if the hypocrisy of Mackay accusing anyone else of gaslighting is priceless.
With a GE coming up within the year, we can expect many more such articles, it’s all the Tories and Labour have left, ‘Bitter Together’…
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Charities trying to get more funding.
Scottish Gov have built 7000 affordable houses a year. More than the 6000 target. 17,000 private builds. 50,000+ die a year. Scotland has enough houses but not in the areas for employment and family ties.
Homelessness is caused by mental health issues, divorce and abuse. It can take time to sort out. To get suitable accommodation.
Women who cohabit, the majority, do not have equal rights. They have to put a claim in within a year (1/3). It can cost £thousands. There is little legal aid. Women have to stay in abusive, unsafe places or lose the roof over their heads. Letting agencies illegally demand 6 months rent + deposit. Many people do not have the means. Or cannot borrow it.
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The Shelter boss appears to believe that Scotland can finance endless Housing quotas regardless of finances .
Like so many political critics of the Scottish Government and the media , they constantly complain about the lack of money for X . Y and Z yet NEVER suggest which other budgets should be cut to fund these .
This Shelter comment smacks of a politically driven agenda .
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Far more is spent on housing benefit in the south. Rents are so much higher. Unequal Barnett Formula.
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“This is not the first time Shelter has mounted a campaign of deliberately context-free misinformation against the Scottish Government”
It is also amazing how in a GE year that the volume is being ramped up….against the Scottish government by certain organisations ……a surreptitious disguise that could be then assumed as another ‘Friends of Labour’ ….and thus (another)’Enemy of the SNP’ …..another critic (to join the many pro UK ranks)…….
Given the media’s current #SNPBAD and then also their #GiveLabourAnotherChance badly cloaked and very much partisan political marketing within Scotland….to shore up more support for labour and less support for the SNP then ‘every little bit helps’ in promoting a message from a charity that veers uncomfortable close to a political rather than a social message in that the charity Head is declaring the leader of that party, currently in government in Scotland, as in their FM, is “gaslighting the country”….a tad strong as a message to reflect a social problem as seems somewhat very personal and political as a attack…..more subjective than objective.
Homelessness is a serious social problem with poverty being one of the most significant root causes…..and in their UK we are seeing stagnant wages, high cost of food prices , crackdown on benefits and too the political demonization of those who are in receipt of benefits indeed many problems can be sourced via another government outwith Scotland……seems strange then that a Charity should then target a devolved government and not instead the central source….as in the one that subjects more people to real despair, dejection, poverty, alienation, poor mental & physical health, deadly consequences via the infamous and cruel Tory austerity policy that resulted in an excess of over 300,000 deaths…..and thus results in many more homeless individuals..….indeed via Thatcher’s reign there was 1.5 million council houses that were sold off by 1990 and by 1995 it was 2.1 million which as a result of her Tory policy via ‘Right to Buy’ gained the UK Treasury £28 Billion….and resulted in a much reduced stock of social housing…Thatcher also did not let councils use the money from these sales to build more social housing….
I note that Keiza Dugdale is the Chair of Shelter Scotland…….and I recall how little Labour did for the social housing market when in power in Scotland compared to the SNP….
Sourced from The Ferrett:
“From 2000-01 to 2006-07 Scottish Labour delivered 28,988 homes. In the period since the SNP assumed power, 52,558 homes have been delivered. This works out as an average of 4,141 houses delivered per year under the Labour administration. Under the SNP, there has been 4,778 delivered on average each year”…..”Richard Leonard, when Labour leader in Scotland, had stated that 61,000 homes were built under the Labour government” ( Ferret Fact Service could not find any evidence of the 61,000 homes built under the Labour government, with a much lower figure according to official figures)
We witness a Wheesht for Labour & a Wheesht for Tories……with a media in Scotland seeking out and also very willing (too willing) to receive and thus promote the disgruntled representation from various organisations who seem determined to undermine and criticise the Scottish government in a thinly disguised social message verging on outright political messaging……against one party….who after all are not a party who run an independent country thus they , as a government, do not have all of the powers and the money to do the very things currently that certain (most) critical organisations demand that they do…..yes I think we all do know who it is who is really trying to gaslight the country…..and I also know why and for whom it is seemingly being done to benefit most…..as in politically in Scotland !
NMRN
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In spite of its name shelter 🏴 is a UK organisation. https://www.oscr.org.uk/about-charities/search-the-register/charity-details?number=SC002327 based in London. As they explain , your donations don’t necessarily get spent in Scotland.
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