17 October 2007
Thames Reach Chief Executive Jeremy Swain on what is needed to end street homelessness in the UK.
Over the last five years rough sleeping has become a secondary issue in the minds of politicians responsible for tackling homelessness. Indeed, regular reminders of how the mass ‘cardboard city ‘rough sleeping of the early 1990s is no more has led some commentators to presume that ending rough sleeping can be ticked off as a done job.
Last week the government released its latest set of homelessness statistics including the national rough sleeping estimate which showed that 498 people slept rough in England on a single night, a stable figure which has been broadly consistent since 2003.
Communities and Local Government (CLG) has been circumspect in their commentary accompanying this figure, describing it on this occasion as ‘a useful snapshot of the number of people sleeping rough on a single night’.
They are wise to do this as it is now widely understood that the total number of people sleeping rough over a single year is typically ten times this figure and nobody is fooled by the notion that if only 500 more hostel bed-spaces were made available the end of rough sleeping would be nigh.
Indeed there are some signs that numbers on the street could be rising again. The informative ‘Street to Home’ bulletin produced by Broadway provides statistics collated from returns made by street teams working in London.
These are particularly relevant as London remains the main focus of concern with 157 people (almost a third of the national figure) sleeping out every night in Westminster and the City of London.
The latest statistics covering 2006-07 show that 2997 people slept rough in London over the year, an increase of 667 (17%) from 2004-05.
There are small signs that rough sleeping is re-emerging as an issue of importance.
Last week CLG released a policy briefing describing progress in reducing rough sleeping since 1998, when the Social Exclusion Unit made a reduction in rough sleeping of 2/3rds one of the government’s first, and most ambitious, social policy objectives. Significantly, the document is more than a piece of government blarney.
Despite the achievement of the target, it acknowledges that ‘…we need to maintain our focus on sustaining the reductions in rough sleeping numbers achieved over the last 10 years and stretch ourselves to make further reductions, to push numbers as close to zero as possible….’ In London the Mayor has committed his administration to ending rough sleeping in the capital by Olympic Year 2012. This will require helping an additional 600 rough sleepers off the streets of London each year between now and the opening ceremony.
So what should happen next to make rough sleeping a historical curiosity rather than the most visible and unacceptable form of homelessness?
Firstly we once again need a national programme to end rough sleeping with a challenging five-year target.
Secondly, local authorities must be given clear guidance, encouraged through appropriate incentives and sanctions, to meet the accommodation and support needs of those socially excluded groups that form a significant segment of the rough sleeping population. 50% of rough sleepers have an alcohol problem, 45% a drug problem, 38% a mental health problem and 43% have experienced prison.
These are not people who will be naturally embraced by local communities and with the introduction of a new local public service delivery framework, Local Area Agreements, it is vital to resist a drift of funding and resources away from a group who are frequently complex, chaotic and unpopular.
Finally the number of hostel bed-spaces for the most vulnerable must be increased by improved ‘flow’ through hostels, achieved by better access to the full range of options; reconnections with place of origin, social housing, the private rented sector, residential care, and specialist supported housing. Homeless Link’s Move on Plans Protocol (MOPP) offers guidance on how a partnership approach between local authorities, homelessness organisations and RSLs can help unblock this particular bottleneck.
