THE number of individuals and families in Inverclyde classed as homeless is falling - but the time taken for people to secure permanent accommodation hasn't improved over the last two years.

Scottish Government data published following a Freedom of Information request reveals that the number of people assessed as 'unintentionally homeless' here fell from 209 in 2021/22 to 173 in 2022/23.

The new figures reveal that a homeless person in Inverclyde has to wait an average of five months before securing permanent accommodation.

In 2021/22 and 2022/23, people classed as homeless waited 162 days before a residence was provided, which is down from the average of 206 in 2020/21. 

Across Scotland as a whole, people classed as homeless in 2022/23 had to wait an average of 270 days, with a total of 20,860 households classed as homeless last year. 

Councillor Robert Moran, chair of Inverclyde Council's integration joint board, says there's been an 'upturn' in the need for the council's homeless services in recent years. 

READ MORE: Inverclyde housing services shakeup sees homelessness halved

He praised the council's rapid rehousing transition plan, which aims to reduce the need for temporary accommodation by enabling homeless people to access settled accommodation quickly and with the right support. 

Councillor Moran said: "It's working really well but we've seen a huge increase in demand for the service in the aftermath of the pandemic. 

"The homeless centre has around 30 people in it at the moment and we have to start using bed and breakfast accommodation.

"We're working with registered social landlords and continuing to build good relationships with them, but we know that they have a backlog themselves.

"I visited the homeless service with Kate Rocks [chief officer of Inverclyde HSCP] and I know that things are working really well."

Councillor Moran says the Scottish Government figures reinforce the work that's being done in Inverclyde. 

He added: "Teams are working really hard to get levels back to what they were before 2020.

"I don't think Inverclyde is doing too badly and the figures back that up."

A spokesperson for Inverclyde Council and Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership highlighted the newly-launched housing options and homelessness advice service, which is a 'one-stop-shop for housing needs'. 

They added that the service had been shortlisted for six national awards in 2023. 

The spokesperson said: "A significant amount of work has taken place over the past 16 months as part of the redesign of the homelessness service to ensure that it meets the needs of our residents and service users. 

"A key focus of that redesign has been on prevention and early intervention to prevent a housing crisis from happening in the first place."

The council spokesperson confirmed that the Scottish Government figures show that improvements are being made in terms of the help provided to homeless people. 

They added: "Statistics never provide a full picture and don't take into account individual and often complex circumstances of our service users.

"These figures do show that improvements are being made with the number of days to assess and resolve cases among the lowest in the country, and a reduction in the number of households assessed as being homeless.

"We know more can always be done and homelessness prevention is still a priority with staff are working hard behind the scenes to see what further improvements can be made and how to better deliver the service in future."