Evidence library

Hard Edges Scotland is a landmark 2019 research study that investigates severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) across the country. The report looks at how issues like homelessness, substance misuse, and criminal justice contact overlap and trap vulnerable people.
The project was authored by researchers at Heriot-Watt University and funded by Lankelly Chase and The Robertson Trust.

Key Findings

• Scale of Disadvantage: One in 28 adults in Scotland (nearly 200,000 people) face extreme disadvantage each year.
• Core Disadvantage Breakdown: Annually, 5,700 adults face three core issues (homelessness, offending, and substance dependency), 28,800 face two, and 156,700 face one.
• Broader Impact: The numbers jump to 450,000 people when adding mental ill-health and domestic abuse.
• Poverty is a significant background factor, which emerges ever more strongly the closer one focuses on the most extreme forms of SMD.

Main Problems Highlighted

• Crisis-Driven Access: People often cannot get help until they reach a breaking point.
• Single-Issue Systems: Public and charitable services often focus on only one problem at a time, failing to match people's complex realities.

In particular, the report illustrates the mismatch between the multiple disadvantages people face and the fact that services are often set up to address ‘single issues’ - there is a need for more people-focused and connected systems of services, timely multi-sectoral interventions for people with complex needs, and a ‘no wrong door’ approach