The UK Government has tripled money going to councils in England to tackle rough sleeping from £10 million to £30m, and the homelessness charity is calling for any additional Barnett consequentials to be allocated to the local authorities facing the greatest housing pressures this winter.

Thousands of children are left without anywhere permanent to live and the rising cost of living is pushing people to the brink of homelessness, with local authorities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh facing the biggest challenges.

The Scottish Government has previously targeted housing and homelessness funding at local authorities in greatest need, and Shelter Scotland is calling for this approach to be replicated to help tackle rough sleeping, rights breaches and the number of children in temporary accommodation.

Shelter Scotland director, Alison Watson, said:  “Extra funding to local authorities would be a lifeline to support anyone experiencing homelessness. It is the devastating reality that thousands of children are trapped in temporary homes and the Scottish Government and local authorities must work together to tackle the issue.

“The Scottish Government has acknowledged that local authorities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow are facing the biggest housing pressures with the highest numbers of children left without a permanent home. Extra cash to these local authorities is desperately needed if the Scottish Government is serious about ending child poverty and tackling the housing emergency.

“The Scottish Government needs to continue with its targeted approach to funding and pass on any additional homelessness cash in full to local authorities facing the biggest challenges. This will have the biggest impact in tackling the housing emergency this winter.”