• Record high numbers living in temporary accommodation as Lib Dems call on govt to end homelessness this Parliament
• Ed Davey calls for boost for unpaid carers as figures show one in four not in work
• Cole-Hamilton pens letter to former Conservative voters urging them to abandon party
• 1 in 9 Scots report mental health condition
• 627,700 unpaid carers in Scotland
• Cole-Hamilton comments on further Creative Scotland funding delay

Record high numbers living in temporary accommodation as Lib Dems call on govt to end homelessness this Parliament

The number of families living in temporary accommodation has reached a record high, the latest homelessness statistics have revealed, while there has been a 14.2% rise in rough sleeping.

The number of households reported in temporary accommodation reached 117,450 in March 2024 – the highest figure since these records began in 1998. This includes a 14.7% rise in the number of households with children living in temporary accommodation taking the total to 74,530.

There were also large increases last year in the number of households owed homelessness support by their local authority. Local authorities made 94,280 main homelessness duty decisions in 2023-24 – up by 25.1% on 2022-23.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to publish a cross-Whitehall plan to end all forms of homelessness within this Parliament. The party said that the plans should include more support for councils to tackle the shocking rise in the number of people in temporary accommodation.

Responding to the latest figures, Liberal Democrat Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson, Vikki Slade MP said:

It is heartbreaking to think that so many families and children will be on the streets or without a place to call home this winter.

For years, the previous Conservative government chose to ignore the thousands that are rough sleeping and broke their promise to ban no fault evictions.

The new government must address this awful situation as a matter of urgency and that starts by publishing a cross-Whitehall plan to end all forms of homelessness within this Parliament.

This strategy must include more support for councils to tackle the shocking rise in families using temporary accommodation. No longer should we see people forced to sleep rough and unable to access the support they need.

Ed Davey calls for boost for unpaid carers as figures show one in four not in work

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will call on the government to boost support for unpaid carers, on a visit to a charity that supports children and young adults with Down syndrome and those who care for them.

It comes as House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed unpaid carers are a sixth less likely to be employed, with one in four classed as ‘economically inactive’.

The data reveals that just 50% of ‘adult informal carers’ were in employment compared to 60% of all adults, making them a sixth less likely to be employed. Disturbingly, the data also showed that informal carers were a third more likely to be ‘permanently sick/disabled’ than the rest of the population, with almost one in 10 unpaid carers classified to be so.

Ed Davey will visit a charity in North East Hampshire today that supports children and young adults with Down syndrome and those who care for them today, alongside newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Alex Brewer.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a comprehensive package of support for unpaid carers through an immediate £20 increase in Carer’s Allowance, raising it from £81.90 to £101.90 per week. This would give family carers an additional £1,040 annually, helping ease the financial strain on those who often have to sacrifice their own careers to care for loved ones.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has campaigned passionately for more rights for carers, being a carer himself for his disabled son John and cared for his mum as a teenager after she was diagnosed with cancer. He has made supporting the NHS and care the top priority for his party.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Standing up for carers is deeply personal to me. Looking after my mum when I was young and now for my son John, caring for loved ones is an amazing but at times an immensely challenging task.

The previous Conservative government utterly failed to recognise the vital work that these incredible carers do and treated them as an afterthought. What is worse, on their watch they hounded thousands of carers in the overpayments scandal because of the disgraceful ‘cliff-edge’ for support.

This new government now has the challenge of reversing these years of neglect and giving carers the support they desperately need and deserve. To do this they need to take on board our proposals and give carers a fair deal.

Cole-Hamilton pens letter to former Conservative voters urging them to abandon party

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today said that voters who have previously backed the Scottish Conservatives should abandon the party after it elected Russell Findlay as leader and candidates for the UK leader lurched to extremes at their Birmingham conference.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said that voters want a party that is caring and sensible, not leaders who cheered on Liz Truss’ economic chaos.

His comments will form the basis of a letter that Scottish Liberal Democrats are sending to voters identified as having voted for the Conservative party in recent elections.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

Many people are now feeling disenchanted with politics, like they are politically homeless.

Over the past days, I’ve spoken to many people who had previously voted for the Scottish Conservatives; they now feel that the party has moved so far away from that which was once led by Ruth Davidson.

People want a politics that reflects our country: caring, sensible, sees the benefit in working together with our neighbours.

That inclusive approach is now completely absent from the Conservative Party today.

Now, all that’s left is a party in decline.

A party now led in Scotland by someone who cheered on Liz Truss’ economic chaos.

A party that is moving backwards and lurching to extremes.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are winning again because we have a plan:

• To help struggling pensioners and everyone stuck on NHS waiting lists;
• To make Scottish education the best again;
• To get a fair deal for our carers;
• To get our economy growing.

We won more seats than the Scottish Conservatives at the last election and showed we can beat the SNP in huge swathes of Scotland.

We can take down the acid yellow wall of the SNP in the 2026 Holyrood election.

By backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you can guarantee hard working local champions who will put your priorities first.

I love our country and want to see the best for it, that’s why I know we need to get the SNP out of power.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are ready to do just that.

1 in 9 Scots report mental health condition

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today said that Scotland needs world-class mental health services after new figures showed around 1 in 9 Scots reporting having a mental health condition.

The data from Scotland’s census revealed that 11.3% of people reported a mental health condition in 2022, up from 4.4% in 2011. The numbers were particularly high amongst young people, with 15.4% of 16–24-year-olds reporting a mental health condition.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

The conversation around mental health has changed dramatically over the last decade. It’s clear that more and more people are able to identify the symptoms and recognise when they need support.

But they have been let down by the SNP Government which has repeatedly raided tens of millions from the mental health budget, adding to the agony of everyone trying to get help and causing services to be overwhelmed.

The SNP promised to clear mental health waiting lists by March 2023, but thousands of children and adults are still waiting over a year and the treatment targets have never been met.

Scotland needs world-class mental health services. Liberal Democrats would increase the tax on the social media giants who cause so much of the problem – a move that could fund more mental health support in schools, get more professionals close to where you live and ramp up the training of new staff and mental health first aiders.

627,700 unpaid carers in Scotland

Responding to the census showing that there are 627,700 unpaid carers in Scotland, an increase of 27.5% since 2011, Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP, who introduced the Carer’s Leave Act earlier this year, said:

As these figures illustrate, caring for someone is an almost universal experience. Virtually everyone will find themselves being an unpaid carer or being cared for by their loved ones at some point.

Carers are the backbone of our society, but they are all too often forgotten and ignored.

I am so proud to have passed the Carer’s Leave Act, but we still have a long way to go. It’s why during the General Election, Ed Davey opened about his role as a carer for his severely disabled son and called for new support for millions of unpaid carers all across the UK. A fair deal would include paid carer’s leave, removing the unfair earnings cliff-edge, making caring a protected characteristic and an amnesty for carers being hounded by the DWP for overpayments.

Cole-Hamilton comments on further Creative Scotland funding delay

Responding to the news that hundreds of arts organisations across Scotland are now at risk because of yet another funding delay, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

The SNP’s excuses and platitudes are worth nothing to a sector it has repeatedly thrown under the bus.

Endless disruption and uncertainty- that’s all this government can offer them.

Scottish Liberal Democrats recognise that culture is critical, not a luxury. I’d like to see the SNP explaining why they don’t seem to think the same.