THE Wee County has seen the third highest rate of homelessness in Scotland during the past year, despite a drop in applications during the pandemic.

National statistics released last week showed that Clackmannanshire saw as many as 392 households assessed as homeless in 2020-21 – at a rate of 9.2 per 1,000 adult residents.

Only Glasgow City, at a rate of 9.8 per 1,000, and West Dunbartonshire, which saw its rates skyrocket to 11.9 per 1,000 people, had higher proportions.

In the case of Glasgow, the higher rates can in part be explained by the fact that some 415 – around eight per cent of those assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness – had no “local connection” to the authority.

However, the Scottish Government’s statistical release noted: “West Dunbartonshire’s high rates of homelessness cannot be explained by those with a local connection elsewhere with 99 per cent of households having a local connection with that authority.”

In that regard the Clackmannanshire “local connection” figures show that 90 per cent of households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness had a local connection with the Wee County, while another nine per cent had a local connection with Clacks and another local authority as well.

Only one per cent had no connection with the area at all.

Councils can investigate whether an applicant has a local connection to the authority they applied to, on the basis of residency, employment, family connections and special reasons such as health and education.

Examining the volume of applications – rather than those assessed as indeed homeless or threatened with homelessness, the figures show a decrease of around four per cent in the Wee County, compared to 2019-20.

Over the decades the figure has decreased from as much as 1,122 applications in 2004-05.

Looking at the change between 2019-20 and 2020-21, the statistical release said: “A reduction in the number of evictions due to emergency coronavirus legislation temporarily extending eviction notice periods likely also reduced the number of households presenting as homeless from social rented housing, and more noticeably from private rented housing.

“Furthermore, home repossessions were also temporarily banned in this period.”

In 2020-21 as many as 10 applicants from the Wee County said they slept rough the night before applying, while 30 said they experienced rough sleeping in the three months prior.