Cooperation with other bodies

It particularly emphasises the need for partnership working across local authority departments and with other agencies. [1]

The Prevention of homelessness guidance, also stresses the importance of local authorities as a whole taking responsibility for homelessness prevention, and of providing a holistic solution to homelessness.

It is important to note that the duty to homeless applicants under the 1987 Housing (Scotland) Act, as amended, is on the local authority as a whole. The Code of Guidance stresses that there must be cooperation between housing departments and other local authority departments, landlords, statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies. [2] Homelessness services should be provided in partnership in a way which responds to the individual needs of each applicant and makes the applicant feel valued and respected. [3]

Housing departments cannot refuse to deal with an applicant because they are deemed to be a social work responsibility or vice versa. Homelessness strategies should make provision for how this corporate approach is to be implemented, [4] and for inter-agency protocols. [5]

Registered social landlords are required to house homeless applicants if requested to do so by the local authority, unless they have good reasons not to. [6] Registered social landlords are required to produce and distribute allocation policies and those policies should be based on housing need. [7] Applicants can often apply to the local authority and request to be nominated to a registered social landlord as well as applying to these landlords direct.