Hundreds of homeless people receiving mental health treatment in Scotland's largest city is the "tip of the iceberg" of a wider crisis, ministers have been warned.
A total of 1005 men and women living in temporary homes in Glasgow and 61 people with no fixed abode in the city received treatment for mental health issues last year, according to data gathered under freedom of information legislation.
The figures have been made public after three Scottish local authorities - Glasgow city council, Edinburgh city council and Argyll and But Council - last year declared a housing emergency to draw attention to the strain their housing system is under.
Meanwhile, earlier this month the Scottish Government cut the housing and building standards budget for next year by more than £200 million in cash terms.
READ MORE: Scottish Budget: £200m cut to housing condemned amid homeless crisis
The Scottish Government's budget also saw funding for mental health services in 2024/25 kept at the same level as last year (£290.2 million) meaning a cut in real terms of 1.7% or £4.93 million.
Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for social security, housing and equalities Miles Briggs MSP, who obtained the figures for people affected by homelessness in Glasgow receiving mental health treatment, warned the cut will mean the crisis will get worse.
"The SNP’s savage cuts to the housing budget will only make it more difficult to get those at risk into safe housing, which will likely worsen the mental health crisis," he told The Herald.
“It is deeply concerning to see so many people who are in temporary accommodation in Greater Glasgow struggling with their mental health.
READ MORE: Poll: 80% of voters say Scotland faces a housing crisis
"The SNP have failed to get a grip on the housing crisis, at the same time as cutting the mental health budget.
“When vulnerable people are left languishing in temporary accommodation or on the streets, it is bound to take a toll on their mental health.
“Thousands of people, including families with young children, have been left in temporary accommodation for far too long. It’s simply not good enough. Scots deserve better.
“Too many vulnerable people have been abandoned by the SNP. We need urgent action from ministers to tackle a housing crisis which has led to Glasgow, along with Edinburgh and Argyll and Bute, declaring a housing emergency.
“The number of homeless people receiving mental health treatment is almost certainly a fraction of the number who require it, because those without an address will inevitably struggle to access help.
“The problems we see in Greater Glasgow are almost certainly replicated across Scotland.”
The number of homeless applications in Scotland has increased by 9% in 2022-23. There were 39,006 homelessness applications recorded in 2022-23.
This is an increase of 9% compared to 2021-22 (35,759) and has surpassed 2019-20 (37,053). The number of open applications was 29,652, reaching the highest level recorded since 2002-03, when recording began.
They were among a total of 75265 patients who received treatment for mental health conditions from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde from April 2022 to April 2023.
Hundreds of homeless people receiving mental health treatment in Scotland's largest city is the "tip of the iceberg" of a wider crisis, ministers have been warned.
A total of 1005 men and women living in temporary homes in Glasgow and 61 people with no fixed abode in the city received treatment for mental health issues last year, according to data gathered under freedom of information legislation.
The figures have been made public after three Scottish local authorities - Glasgow city council, Edinburgh city council and Argyll and But Council - last year declared a housing emergency to draw attention to the strain their housing system is under.
Meanwhile, earlier this month the Scottish Government cut the housing and building standards budget for next year by more than £200 million in cash terms.
The Scottish Government's budget also saw funding for mental health services in 2024/25 kept at the same level as last year (£290.2 million) meaning a cut in real terms of 1.7% or £4.93 million.
Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for social security, housing and equalities Miles Briggs MSP, who obtained the figures for people affected by homelessness in Glasgow receiving mental health treatment, warned the cut will mean the crisis will get worse.
"The SNP’s savage cuts to the housing budget will only make it more difficult to get those at risk into safe housing, which will likely worsen the mental health crisis," he told The Herald.
“It is deeply concerning to see so many people who are in temporary accommodation in Greater Glasgow struggling with their mental health.
"The SNP have failed to get a grip on the housing crisis, at the same time as cutting the mental health budget.
“When vulnerable people are left languishing in temporary accommodation or on the streets, it is bound to take a toll on their mental health.
“Thousands of people, including families with young children, have been left in temporary accommodation for far too long. It’s simply not good enough. Scots deserve better.
“Too many vulnerable people have been abandoned by the SNP. We need urgent action from ministers to tackle a housing crisis which has led to Glasgow, along with Edinburgh and Argyll and Bute, declaring a housing emergency.
“The number of homeless people receiving mental health treatment is almost certainly a fraction of the number who require it, because those without an address will inevitably struggle to access help.
“The problems we see in Greater Glasgow are almost certainly replicated across Scotland.”
The number of homeless applications in Scotland increased by 9% in 2022-23. There were 39,006 homelessness applications recorded in 2022-23.
This is an increase of 9% compared to 2021-22 (35,759) and has surpassed 2019-20 (37,053). The number of open applications was 29,652, reaching the highest level recorded since 2002-03, when recording began.
They were among a total of 75265 patients who received treatment for mental health conditions from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde from April 2022 to April 2023.
A Glasgow city council spokeswoman said: “The lack of a permanent address doesn’t preclude people from accessing mental health services particularly those in supported accommodation where, by definition, we have assessed them as needing additional support which will include access to mental health services.”
Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “Scotland has the strongest rights in the UK for people experiencing homelessness, but we are committed to ensuring that no one need become homeless in the first place.
“We are providing local authorities with £30.5 million annually for their work to prevent homelessness. Separately, we are providing a total of £100 million from our multi-year Ending Homelessness Together fund. I have also regularly met with representatives from local authorities, including Glasgow, to find solutions to help address housing pressures in their area.
“We have led the UK in housing by delivering more than 126,000 affordable homes since 2007, over 89,000 of which were for social rent, including almost 24,000 council homes. We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and to support that we will bring forward the review scheduled for 2026-27 to 2024, which will concentrate on deliverability.”
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