Crisis boss Jon Sparkes will lead the new taskforce, which has been backed by a £50 million fund

A homeless charity is leading a new initiative to end rough sleeping in Scotland once and for all.

The new short-term action group aims to identify the actions and changes needed to end sleeping on the streets and transform the use of temporary accommodation.

It comes following growing public concern about the number of people sleeping rough in Scotland, particularly on the streets of its biggest city, Glasgow.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the homelessness charity Crisis, will chair the action group and a panel of members will be appointed shortly.

He said: “I firmly believe we can end homelessness for good, we know the scale of the problem and this group will focus firmly on deliverable solutions which prevent, tackle and end homelessness for people.

“There’s some hard work to be done but I believe the expertise and knowledge of those on the group means we will be up to the challenge and I look forward to quickly getting to work."

The group was announced by housing minister Kevin Stewart MSP, who also revealed a new £50 million Ending Homelessness Together fund, which will be used to back the commitment and fund homelessness prevention initiatives over the next five years.

The action group will meet next month and will examine plans to minimise rough sleeping this winter, how to eradicate rough sleeping for good, ways to transform temporary accommodation, and how to bring about an end to homelessness in Scotland.

Stewart said: “We are committed to eradicating rough sleeping in Scotland and know this requires more than just the provision of housing – every individual has their own unique needs and challenges. To achieve this we need to ensure we have a joined up approach across all sectors to improve prevention.”