More than 200 children in Stirling are living in temporary accommodation as new stark figures laid bare the scale of homelessness.The latest data released by the Scottish Government has thrown light on the picture of those living on the streets and in unstable arrangements for the period from April 1 last year to March 31 this year.The Scottish Government figures reveal that 603 applications for homelessness were received in Stirling during that 12 month period, a small rise of 17 from last year.Out of that total, 443 applications were assessed as homeless or being at risk of homelessness with that figure again representing a small hike on the same figure for 2022-23.In Stirling, 341 households were living in temporary accommodation up to the end of March - although this actually represented a drop on the total in the last three years.Within that figure, 210 children have been assessed as living within temporary accommodation for the same period.When compared to the rest of the country, Stirling’s rate of homeless households per 100,000 of population falls behind the national average of 133.However, the issue of temporary accommodation continues to be an issue locally, with Stirling reporting the sixth-highest total of all of Scotland’s council areas for the ratio of households living in unstable circumstances per 100,000.Meanwhile, it was reported that the average time spent in temporary accommodation in Stirling was just under a year - at 316 days.Shelter Scotland director, Alison Watson, said: “These figures show clearly that it is children in Scotland that are paying the highest price for politicians’ failure to get a grip on the housing emergency; they should be a source of great national shame.“Once again Scotland
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