CIH Scotland response to Scottish Government call for views: Part 1 Draft guidance for Ask and Act

The Scottish Government has invited comments on draft ‘ask and act’ guidance for named relevant bodies subject to homelessness prevention duties as specified in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025.

It’s our understanding that the draft guidance is intended to provide a general overview of the duties set out in the legislation and that separate targeted guidance will be developed for each of the relevant bodies. 

CIH work on homelessness prevention and general comments on the guidance

Between 2023 and 2024, CIH Scotland published a series of reports in partnership with Fife Council looking into the implementation and effectiveness of Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans (RRTPs). The work involved online surveys of local authorities as well as follow up discussions and input from wider stakeholders. As part of that project we asked local authorities about proposals for a new homelessness prevention duty.

On the whole, local authorities were positive about the potential benefits of a new duty, including:

• Recognition that homelessness is not just a housing issue
• Greater focus on prevention and early intervention
• Formalising/clarifying the role of partners in homelessness prevention
• Making better use of/sharing resources. 

However, it was also clearly stated that realising those potential benefits would require strong leadership, clear lines of responsibility and accountability, and resources to support staff training and actual prevention work.

There was, and still is, concern that the prevention duty could become a referral pathway into homelessness services, with no real prevention work taking place and without adequate resources for homelessness teams to deal with increases in demand.

Some local authorities are already under significant pressure to meet existing statutory duties and the extension of prevention duties to six months, alongside the potential for increased referrals from other bodies, will exacerbate the situation without additional resources. We also know that when services are stretched, the wellbeing of existing staff can suffer and recruitment and retention becomes more challenging.

There is also concern about the ability and capacity of staff in other relevant bodies outside the housing sector to carry out ask and act effectively. Training would be required to ensure colleagues have the right knowledge and skills to ask the right questions and take effective actions.

The new prevention duties provide a real opportunity to transform the approach to homelessness in Scotland, but only if the guidance is clear, roles and responsibilities of all parties are understood and adhered to, and adequate resources are made available. 

Specific comments on the draft guidance

It is difficult to comment on how effective the guidance may be without seeing the detail to be set out in tailored guidance for each of the relevant bodies. The draft guidance as it stands is very high level and lacks detail on what the relevant bodies will actually be expected to do.

In some areas, the wording could be strengthened to reinforce that partaking in prevention work is not optional. For example, the guidance states that “Ask and act offers the opportunity to connect…”. Changing to requires connection would be a stronger statement. Similarly, “Community Planning Partnerships can have a key role in the adoption of this place-based approach” could be strengthened to “should have a key role”.

Section 4. The operation of ask and act

The guidance offers little clarity over and above what is set out in the legislation. If additional detail is provided in the tailored guidance, it would be useful if it covered how staff should be making enquiries about housing circumstances and any training they may need to ensure that potentially sensitive conversations are managed and that staff have the knowledge needed for follow up actions.

The guidance states that, “If somebody is threatened with homelessness, the relevant body should ask what somebody needs to remain housed…”. While this is clearly intended to follow a person-centred approach, it puts the onus on the individual to know what support may be available and could also lead to some issues with managing expectations.

The guidance states that, “In planning for the effective implementation of ask and act duties, all relevant bodies should consider:

• who to ask and when
• the actions they can take
• the referral pathways and directories of local contacts they already have or can establish; and
• the role they can continue to play through co-operation with other relevant bodies and other organisations if required.” 

We would expect this type of detail to be set out in the tailored guidance, with specific examples.

Act: when and how?

Again, we would expect tailored guidance to include more detail and/or examples of the types of action expected from relevant bodies.

The draft guidance states that, “Any application to a local authority for homelessness assistance should only be made if the relevant body is unable to remove the threat of homelessness through its actions or when appropriate to the person’s circumstances.”

This implies that the relevant body will be acting alone, although the section above suggests that referrals to other relevant bodies or partners for support could constitute prevention work.

It is not clear where responsibility sits, especially where multiple bodies are involved, how prevention actions and outcomes will be monitored, and when a case would be considered closed.

If a relevant body does refer someone to another relevant body or partner, for example for debt advice, and that does not “remove the threat of homelessness”. Does the original relevant body still have a duty towards the person at risk of homelessness?

It is unclear how the relevant body will know whether an intervention has been successful and therefore whether any additional action, potentially including referral to a homelessness service, is required. 

5. Co-operation with other bodies under ask and act

The main aim of ask and act is to remove or minimise the risk of homelessness, and, where that is not possible, to refer the person to the local authority homelessness service. We appreciate that co-ordination between several relevant bodies may be the most effective way to provide the right support for some people, but it is not clear from the draft guidance whether one relevant body would maintain accountability to ensure that the person’s needs are met. For example, if prevention work has not been effective, would one of the bodies involved still be responsible for ensuring a referral to the local authority homelessness service?

6. Referrals under ask and act

This section again suggests that relevant bodies should ask the individual what support they already have in place and what they need. If the person is unsure, is there a requirement for the relevant body to make enquiries on the person’s behalf?

The guidance should define what is meant by a referral and what information needs to be provided to the local authority. 

7. The role of assessments under ask and act

The draft guidance states that, “Each relevant body should consider how the question of housing stability can be included and raised within their existing assessment processes, if they have reason to believe somebody may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.”

This may need clarification or rewording. Should part of the assessment process be to identify factors that could suggest that someone may be homeless or threatened with homelessness? This section reads as if housing stability should only be raised after identifying a potential risk.