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‘Ask and Act’ are new duties proposed in the Housing (Scotland) Bill that requires public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation early—and take action to prevent homelessness before it happens. The Scottish Government’s Homelessness Prevention Pilot Fund (up to £4 million) supports a range of bodies including, local authorities, Health Boards, the police service, registered social landlords, prisons, along with 3rd Sector Organisations experienced in preventing homelessness. The pilots will develop, test, scale and cost the new prevention duties in real-world settings. The fund is being administered by Advice Direct Scotland. It is designed to help public bodies, alongside third sector organisations experienced in preventing homelessness, prepare for and test the practical application of the new prevention duties with a particular focus on how ‘Ask and Act’ can be effectively embedded in day-to-day practice. It will also help relevant bodies and others to scope out the groups most at risk of homelessness, identify resource requirements, and best practice approaches.Examples of the types of approaches the fund will support are:- Early intervention and targeted prevention activity.- Multi-agency approaches to support people navigating housing, healthand social care services.- Partnership models and processes that can be replicated and scaled.- Collaborations involving shared resources, data and transitional orreferred services.- Initiatives that centre people at risk of homelessness and/or people with direct experience of homelessness in the design and delivery of theservice.- Initiatives that target groups at risk of homelessness and critical points- in service pathways that have been identified as leading tohomelessness.

The Community Choices Small Grants programme offers community groups the opportunity to suggest project and activity ideas they want to make happen and to receive public funds in their ward to do it.The programme supports groups with a project idea that will make a difference to people living in the Falkirk area. Examples of successful projects range from a local youth theatre to a dementia support group; local youth organisations, a mental health support charity and numerous local sports clubs.