THE Wee County has disclosed its failings in an annual assurance statement to the Scottish Housing Regulator.

Clackmannanshire Council has failed to meet all of its legal obligations associated with housing and homelessness services.

Councillors unanimously signed off on housing spokesperson Councillor Jane McTaggart’s assurance statement at a meeting on Thursday morning. 

She said: “The statement shows welcome improvements have been made since our last submission, and we’re closer to full compliance. However, there are a few areas highlighted for concern."

The council is breaching its homelessness responsibility by providing temporary accommodation outside of local authority borders for people in need of housing for more than seven days.  

“As with all local authorities, we’re struggling to meet our commitment to those who find themselves homeless. We’ve not made progress in that area, but that’s not through a lack of trying,” Cllr McTaggart explained.

“As the smallest mainland authority, we just don’t have enough properties in our geographical area to cope with the amount of homeless applicants.” 

While some local authorities are “huge” and can spread out over hundreds of miles, Cllr McTaggart said travelling just a few miles over the Clackmannanshire border causes the council to become non-compliant. 

“That’s not to say we want to move people out of the area but with limited availability it often can’t be avoided,” she said. 

Every year, local authorities, including Clackmannanshire, are required to submit annual assurance statements to the Scottish Housing Regulator. 

The statements are meant to provide assurance that they comply with the government’s regulatory standards and legal requirements. 

According to the assurance statement, the regulator has an engagement plan for Clackmannanshire and will analyse the council’s delivery of services to people who are homeless and those who utilise the site for gypsy / travellers.

The regulator will also engage Clackmannanshire about the council’s management of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) within its housing stock.