Section: Homelessness & Rough Sleeping
Homelessness Strategy Update
The Government published its new homelessness strategy, Sustainable Communities:
Settled Homes; Changing Lives, aimed at further reducing and preventing homelessness. The strategy includes a target to cut the number of
households living in temporary accommodation by half, by 2010. The strategy takes forward measures announced in the ODPM's five-year plan
Sustainable Communities: Homes for All, with proposals to:
- Increase funding for homelessness by 23% from £60 million
to £74 million by 2007/08.
- Support what has proved to work, based on an evaluation of new initiatives developed and piloted with
Government funding over the last three years.
- Consider changes to homelessness legislation, to improve the provision and take up of
preventive services and housing options.
- Increase the supply of social rented housing by 50% by 2008, providing 75,000 new social rented
homes over the next three years.
- Make better use of existing social and private rented housing, including converting temporary
accommodation into settled homes, where suitable.
- Deliver better services through a £90 million capital hostels improvement
programme, to ensure people can be helped to move away from the streets more quickly and permanently.
Homelessness in
Brief
-
The latest national statistics show that the number of people becoming homeless in England in 2004 fell by 6%
compared with 2003. The statistics further indicated this is an ongoing trend with new homelessness cases having fallen for the fifth consecutive
time.
The statistics also record a 23% reduction over the last year in the number of households living in bed and breakfast hotels. Less
than 6% of all households in temporary accommodation, including vulnerable single people, are now in bed and breakfast hotels. This compares with an
historic peak of 47% in 1987.
-
The Working Future scheme was launched, and will receive over £3 million in
financial support from the ODPM. The funding will support a pilot project in three London boroughs, and aims to break down the barriers preventing
households living in temporary accommodation from seeking employment. It will allow people to both work and sustain their tenancies, giving them the
regular income and stability that will help them move on to settled homes.
Working Future is a partnership between the Greater
London Authority, the East Thames Housing Group, and the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest, Redbridge, and Newham.
- The ODPM
announced the local authorities that have been selected as part of its new Regional Champions for Homelessness programme. Each authority
chosen as a Regional Champion has already had success in tackling homelessness locally and will now share its experience, knowledge, and good practice
with other councils across the region. In particular, the programme will enable authorities to share expertise around mediation and giving targeted
help to those at risk of homelessness. A full list of the selected local authorities is published on the ODPM website.
- The new
Hostels' Toolkit was published by the ODPM. It is a web-based practical guide, which contains guidance, information on standards, and
questionnaires for clients, enabling agencies to carry out effective reviews. The purpose of the toolkit is to gauge the quality of provision in any
given hostel, and to lay down clear guidance on the standard expected, e.g., of support services, and cleanliness. The Toolkit is available on the
ODPM website.
- The ODPM Select Committee report on homelessness was published in January and the ODPM's response to the report was
subsequently published on its website. The ODPM's website is at www.odpm.gov.uk.
