South Lanarkshire has one of the highest number of homeless people in temporary accommodation in Scotland, an MSP has revealed.
Tory Central Scotland member Graham Simpson unearthed figures which showed there are 296 families waiting for permanent homes in the area. Mr Simpson, who is his party’s housing spokesman, said: “Outside of Glasgow and Edinburgh, South Lanarkshire has the highest number of homeless families in temporary accommodation.
“I knew this was an issue in our two biggest cities but I was surprised to see the scale of the problem so close to home. I have asked to meet South Lanarkshire Council officials to find out why we have such a big issue here and to find out what can be done. Homelessness is a massive issue throughout Scotland. 10,000 people are in temporary accommodation and that means that those in need of such shelter can’t get it. It has huge and serious knock-on effects and it needs to be tackled.”
The Scottish Conservatives recently backed Shelter Scotland’s call for a national homelessness strategy.
Mr Simpson said: “It is disgraceful that we don’t have a national homelessness strategy. Too many people are living in temporary accommodation and sleeping rough. As a society, we simply should not accept this.”