‘Disaster’: Call to fire disgusting Herald writer as number of Scots children in temporary accommodation remains far below level in England and is growing three times less quickly

‘Homeless’ children are in decent quality, warm, temporary accommodation and not on the street like this poor soul being used by the Herald to deceive readers.

By Professor John Robertson OBA

The Herald today has this tasteless and inaccurate view of a ‘homeless’ child.

‘Disaster’: Call to fire housing minister as number of Scots homeless children soars – Calls have been made for the housing minister to be fired as the number of children in temporary accommodation has hit record levels – shooting up by over 14% in two years.

Homeless does not mean on the street. It means in temporary accommodation meeting basic standards. The Herald is trying to shock you with this image.

From STV, under another poverty porn image, today:

The number of children living in temporary accommodation across Scotland has hit its highest level in over 20 years. Homelessness statistics, covering April 1 to September 30, 2024 were released by the Scottish Government on Wednesday. The report found 10,360 children were living in temporary accommodation last year, a 5% increase from 9,855 in 2023.1

According to Shelter, in April 2024, there were 145 800, up 15% in one year.

So that’s 46% more children in temp accommodation and the rate of growth three times higher in England.

Media reporting other than in Scotland, is not calling for ministers to resign.

Sources:

  1. https://news.stv.tv/scotland/number-of-scottish-children-living-in-temporary-accommodation-hits-highest-level-in-over-20-years
  2. https://england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_release/record_145800_children_in_temporary_accommodation__up_15_in_a_year#:~:text=Posted%2030%20Apr%202024,and%20only%20two%20months’%20notice.

7 thoughts on “‘Disaster’: Call to fire disgusting Herald writer as number of Scots children in temporary accommodation remains far below level in England and is growing three times less quickly”

  1. https://www.gov.scot/news/homelessness-statistics-april-to-september-2024/

    An update on Homelessness Statistics covering 1 April to 30 September 2024 has been released today.

    Over that period:

    • There were 20,823 applications for homelessness assistance. This is an increase of 1% (295) compared with the same six-month period in 2023.
    • There were 17,424 households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness: an increase of 4% (636) on the same six-month period in 2023.
    • There were 32,272 open cases at 30 September 2024. This is slightly lower than 32,377 at 30 June 2024 although 6% higher than the 29,856 at 30 September 2023.
    • There were 16,634 households and 10,360 children in temporary accommodation at 30 September 2024. These are the highest in the time series since 2002 and increases of 6% and 5%, respectively, compared to 15,620 households and 9,855 children at 30 September 2023.
    • There were 1,785 households reporting a household member experiencing rough sleeping in the three months prior to application, and 1,198 the night before. These are increases of 25% and 32%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2023.
    • There was a 4% increase in the number of adults (to 19,894) and a 1% decrease (to 8,063) in the number of children associated with homeless households compared to 2023.
    • There were 7,545 instances of households not being offered temporary accommodation. This is a notable increase from 2,000 in 2023. The vast majority of these (6,320) were in Glasgow.
    • A total of 20,345 cases closed between April and September 2024, an increase of 5% compared to 19,428 in 2023.
    • The proportion of households who secured settled accommodation having been assessed as unintentionally homeless, and where the outcome was known, was 82%, the same as 2023.

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  3. Sadly accuracy is not high rated very highly in the Heralds office.

    It always kills me when I remember them pushing sales of the Herald because of its “Trusted Journalism”. Trusted by whom I wonder? Anas Sarwar that famed Heralds Politician of the Year maybe 🙂

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  4. So , where does The Herald suggest we house these homeless families/children ?

    Like opposition politicians the MSM wants to continually blame the SNP Government for crises that afflict all parts of the UK but NEVER give you context .

    Forget the lack of Council Housing due to Thatcher’s policy , forget the lack of money from Central Government to help Councils build more affordable homes , forget the Banks giving favourable rates for Buy-to-let but not the ordinary punter wanting a home for themselves , forget the Bank Crash and bailout which sucked vast amounts of Public monies that could have been better spent , forget the last 14 years of Tory rule which turned a nelson eye to the basic infrastructure needs of the UK , including housing ….

    Perhaps the MSM think we should deport the Ukraine refugees who have been housed in Scotland to free up space , or maybe evict those families with more than Two Kids which successive Governments at Westminster deem not worthy of help from them , or ….

    Suggestions gratefully accepted !

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    1. ‘the lack of money from Central Government to help Councils ..’

      There has been a notable change in the financing of local government in England over the last decade, as documented in this House of Commons Library (HoCL) briefing:

      Source: Brien and Sandford (February 4, 2025) Local Government Finance Settlement 2025/26. House of Commons Library Research Briefing No. 10184.

      But first, whilst acknowledging an overall real-terms increase of 4.3% in core spending power of England’s local authorities in the coming year’s settlement, the HoCL notes this is ‘largely in line with the increases of the past few years’ i.e. under Tory governments! ‘Change’?

      It also states that Labour’s settlement for 2025-26 does not make up for the large falls in core spending power in the first half of the 2010s. As of 2025/26, the Library estimates that core spending power remains about 9.0% below its 2010/11 level in real terms.

      It’s interesting to note how the discourse over local government funding in England tends to focus on the overall ‘spending power’ of councils, a statistic to which Council Tax revenues contribute, rather than on the scale of funding provided directly to councils by the responsible government.

      The HoCL briefing explains that different elements of core spending power have changed over time.  In particular, settlement funding from central government has become ‘a much less significant proportion of the total (decreasing from 47% in 2015/16 to 24% in 2025/26), while the council tax requirement has become more significant (rising from 49% to 56% of the total over the same period).’

      So in essence, Westminster governments – having total fiscal autonomy over England and control over most taxes in the other nations of the UK  – have chosen to shift the  burden of financing local government services towards Council Tax payers.  

      Of course local government is a devolved matter, but as so often that does not mean the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh are in complete control.

      As funding from Westminster as a proportion of England’s local government revenue falls, there is an unfavourable consequential impact on the budgets of those governing with the very restricted fiscal powers of the devolved settlements. This impact comes through their ‘block grants’. 

      Governing only with devolved powers whilst freezing or seeking to minimise increases in Council Tax, a tax  widely viewed as regressive, becomes even more difficult financially due to the political choices being made by Westminster for England.  

      One further consequence of Scotland’s lack of agency.

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  5. Totally agree with the Talking Up Scotland article and with millsjames above.

    The only suggestion I can really come up with is that the Herald writer should be sacked, as should most unionist writers. I’m guessing all they learn when / if they study journalism is how to tell straightforward lies, how to lie by omission and how to lie by twisting the facts.

    Actually, they’re not even skilled at lying, it’s just that the press reading, BBC watching public have long ago lost their critical thinking skills. Constantly bombarded by lies, nonsense and Strictly it’s really not surprising.

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