Perth councillor’s over-crowding “taboo” claims

May 21 2010 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

MORE should be done to combat the “taboo subject” of over-crowding in Perthshire households, a local councillor claimed yesterday.

The call comes as members of Perth and Kinross Council’s housing and health committee were this week asked to approve plans to extend the number of people who can officially be classed as ‘homeless’.

The change means that ‘priority need’ status will now be stretched to cover unintentionally homeless people and families from October 2011 – ahead of a 2012 deadline set by the Scottish Government.

But Cllr John Flynn called for more to be done to combat other issues “that nobody seems to want to talk about”.

The Perth-based representative said: “I’m delighted at the process we’ve made as far as tackling homelessness goes, but I think we should also have some indication on levels of over-crowding.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the most important issues and I would like to see this committee presented with a report so we can find out how many people are living in these conditions.

“It can have a knock-on effect on things like educational attainment and general family life – but it’s almost as if it never gets mentioned.

“We need to be able to explain to people how we are going to satisfy their concerns. It’s a taboo subject that never gets talked about.”

Committee convener Peter Barrett said he was confident any over-crowding issues could be addressed through the local authority’s new housing allocations policy, which became active in April this year.

Although he did admit he “can’t wave a magic wand” to resolve the on-going problem.

A PKC officer assured Cllr Flynn that his concern was treated as “a top priority” by the council, alongside homelessness itself.

Elected members also approved a submission to the Scottish Housing Regulator, who are scheduled to re-inspect the region’s homelessness services in June.

PKC’s homelessness service was given a ‘D’ grade in 2006 which, according to the accommodation watchdog’s website, means the quality of work carried-out at the time was ‘poor’.

Cllr Barrett concluded: “I want to pay tribute to the level of leadership shown by the department, which has enabled it to rebound from the previous inspection report and transform the service”.