Can Andy Burnham end rough sleeping in Scotland?

Andy Burnham proclaimed on Monday that his first major policy as Prime Minister will be to “to end rough sleeping in our country”.

It’s a bold claim.

Housing is devolved in Scotland, with any extra money for the sector coming from the UK Government to the Scottish Government.

Burnham has previously stated he is a fan of further devolution, and this may be his first act to prove that he’s serious about moving power out of London and putting money where his mouth is.

Rough sleeping is on the rise in Scotland. The latest figures from the Scottish Government show 2,465 people are homeless. That’s up from 1,932 people the previous year.

Alongside families and children in homeless or temporary accommodation, homelessness among asylum seekers and refugees is rapidly on the rise.

It’s currently one of the biggest challenges facing Scottish local authorities, especially Glasgow. Hotels in the city are packed with people waiting to be granted asylum. If successful, they then join a long queue of 250,000 people waiting for a social home.

In part, this is due to the rising number of illegal immigrants entering the UK. Some travel to Scotland because homelessness laws are much leaner here compared to the rest of the UK.

Legislation initially brought in by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon means that anyone presenting as homeless in Scotland has a legal right to temporary accommodation.

Some of the funding for this comes from the Home Office to the Scottish Government.

House building has stalled in the meantime, especially for affordable and social homes. The Scottish Government pledged to build 110,00 affordable homes by 2032 but the numbers don’t add up.

The Government’s own record-breaking figures show they’re a long way off achieving that figure, with new build starts and completions down. Despite the evidence, they’re sticking to their commitment.

According to Shelter, a household becomes homeless every 15 minutes in Scotland. Not an accolade any country can be proud of.

Ending rough sleeping was a commitment that Burnham made when he became mayor of Manchester in 2017. He made a dent in the numbers but failed to fully meet that commitment.

Rough sleeping numbers in Scotland dropped during the coronavirus pandemic – largely due to a huge commitment and focus from charities and other organisations during that time.

There was also a greater availability of temporary accommodation at that time, which is now oversubscribed.

The political will is evident. But all eyes will now turn to whether the cash matches the ambition to solve the problem.