Rock Trust’s Ask & Ask Manager Hannah Rawlinson unpacks the Scottish Government’s upcoming Ask & Act legislation – and makes the case for schools playing a central role in a new nationwide prevention model.
Imagine if every teacher, health worker and public service worker in Scotland asked young people one simple question at the right moment: are you worried you may become homeless? That’s the idea behind Ask and Act, the new duties in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 that could change how homelessness is prevented across the country.
What is Ask and Act?
Ask and Act will require public bodies to ask people about their housing situation at the earliest opportunity, and to act to help them avoid homelessness before it happens. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 was passed on 30 September 2025 and received Royal Assent on 6 November. While the duties aren’t in force yet, work is well under way to determine exactly how they’ll operate. The direction of travel is clear, however: a shift from crisis response to genuine prevention.
To help shape that direction, the Scottish Government’s Homelessness Prevention Pilot Fund is backing 15 pilot programmes across local authorities, police, prison and ambulance services, and health boards. Education isn’t formally named as a ‘relevant public body’ under the legislation, but schools will still be covered through local authority duties.
As Scotland’s leading youth homelessness charity, we believe that schools should be pivotal to how Ask and Act works in practice.
Rock Trust’s pilot: Ask & Act in Education
That’s why we’re delivering Ask & Act in Education: An Upstream Implementation Pilot. It builds directly on our schools-based prevention programme, Upstream Scotland, which identifies young people at risk of homelessness early and connects them with the right support before problems escalate.
As Ask & Act Education Manager, I’ve spent recent months meeting deputes, guidance staff and pupil support leads from 25 schools, alongside local authority education leads and third-sector partners. A thematic analysis of those conversations is now shaping a toolkit we’ll build over the summer to ensure schools are well-equipped to support the delivery of Ask & Act.
What is Ask and Act?
Written by
Upstream Scotland
Find out more about our innovative school-based early intervention programme, preventing youth homelessness before it starts.
What we’re learning
A few things are already clear:
- Schools are already doing this work: often informally, and dependent on individual staff rather than consistent systems.
- Understanding of homelessness is narrow. Staff tend to think in terms of family homelessness, with far less awareness of hidden forms like sofa surfing.
- Universal “asking” has strong support. Approaches like the Upstream survey help surface hidden housing issues early, without singling anyone out or relying on assumptions.
- Capacity is the real barrier. Schools feel confident spotting risk, but worry they lack time and resources to follow through with support.
- Prevention is a team effort, needing strong links between schools, housing services, social work and the third sector.
- Flexibility matters. No two schools or local authorities look or function the same, so any national model needs room to adapt.
- Keep it simple and digital. Schools want practical, low-effort tools they can build into existing practice – not another static PDF.
What happens next
Over the summer, we’ll turn these findings into a digital toolkit for schools and local authorities, testing it with staff and young people before it’s finalised. The results will feed directly into Scottish Government guidance on how relevant bodies put Ask and Act into practice.
Upstream has already shown what’s possible when schools ask the right question at the right time. Now, through this pilot, we have a real chance to help shape a national approach: one that could mean fewer young people ever reaching crisis point at all.
Get in touch
If you’d like to know more about Rock Trust’s role in the roll out of these new public sector duties, contact our Ask & Act Manager Hannah Rawlinson.