Call for Scotland to put 7-day limit on use of B&Bs for homeless A cross-party group of MSPs are pressing ministers for change ahead of an action plan this week

Scotland‘s law should be changed so people who are made homeless spend no more than a week in temporary accommodation such as B&Bs, a cross-party group of MSPs has said.

Such a move would show ministers are “serious” about ending homelessness, according to a joint statement signed by the Scottish Conservatives, Labour, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

“To end homelessness, we need a bold approach” The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Joint statement

The four opposition parties are calling on the Scottish Government to include the measure in its action plan on tackling homelessness, which is set to be published on Tuesday.

It is expected to set out a five-year programme to address the issue of temporary accommodation in partnership with local councils and other organisations.

Last month a survey of 74 homeless people stuck in B&Bs across Scotland found that almost half had no access to a kitchen or cooking facilities, meaning they often had to skip meals.

The majority were also subjected to curfews and were not allowed to be visited by family or friends, the research published by homelessness charity Crisis found.

Hefty bill

Earlier this year, an investigation by the Ferret website found that Scottish councils have spent more than £600m on temporary accommodation for the homeless over the past five years.

The joint statement suggests changing the law so that homeless people are moved on from this kind of accommodation into more settled housing after one week.

It was signed by Scottish Tory housing spokesman Graham Simpson and his counterparts Andy Wightman of the Greens, Labour’s Pauline McNeill and Alex Cole-Hamilton of the Lib Dems.

“To end homelessness, we need a bold approach,” it read. “We believe that legislating to place a time limit of seven days for the period someone is placed in unstable temporary accommodation will demonstrate to the Scottish people we are serious about achieving this goal for all homeless people.”

The joint statement was welcomed by Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes, who said people in temporary accommodation were living “in limbo”.

“It is heartening that this has been recognised across the political divide and I welcome this cross-party approach to call for the issue to be tackled urgently,” he added.

“We know the Scottish Government intend to address this as part of their action plan, but it needs to happen quickly to stop more people being trapped in accommodation that is not fit for living in.”

Last year ministers put a seven-day cap on the length of time that homeless families and pregnant woman could be housed in unsuitable accommodation.

Housing minister Kevin Stewart indicated that the Government was poised to make the change requested by the MSPs by extending the cap.

“While temporary accommodation provides an important safety net in emergency situations, we are clear it must be for as short a time as possible,” he said.

“The recommendations from our Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group, which we have accepted in principle, include a proposal to amend the unsuitable accommodation order and extend the one week cap to all homeless households.

“We will be working closely with local authorities and other partners to make these changes a reality as soon as we can.‎”