Councillors asked to approve £240K accommodation plan for homeless alcoholics

Almost a quarter of a million pounds is to be spent on supporting 10 homeless alcoholics in Dundee.

The group are under the care of the city council and social work director Alan Baird said they have been stuck in homeless accommodation because of a lack of suitable alternatives.

He said, “These individuals have complex needs related to alcohol use and many of them have been in the homeless system for a number of years. They would not be able to manage a tenancy and have been assessed as requiring 24-hour support.

“As this type of resource has not been available to this point, they have been unable to move on. This creates difficulties for individuals themselves, as they have no security of tenure and the resource is not appropriate to meet their needs.”

Mr Baird said it also meant the group were taking up places in temporary accommodation which were then not available to other people needing a place to stay. He wants to use £240,000 from the social work budget to provide them with a place to live and the round-the-clock care they need.

The plan will be presented to councillors next week.

The council has also been working to find appropriate places for 15 homeless people with mental health problems. Mr Baird said it was possible to redesignate hostel places as permanent accommodation.

The Homelessness (Scotland) Act expands categories of people with a right to permanent accommodation. By next year it will cover every unintentionally homeless person.