The Housing Corporation appointed Ashley Horsey and Helen Cope as expert advisors in tackling homelessness for its Beacon Association Competition. The competition will be open to housing associations that can demonstrate outstanding performance in key areas of business. For the first year of the Beacon Awards, the two themes for the competition will be tackling homelessness and innovation in procurement.
Figures released by the Housing Executive showed that the number found to be homeless in Northern Ireland has decreased for the second year in a row.
The number of households found to be homeless after investigation by the Housing Executive reduced to 8,470 last year, compared to 8,594 in the previous year. Last year, the total number of households claiming to be homeless in Northern Ireland increased by 1%, compared to a 4% increase the year before.
The Housing Executive also announced a £1.6 million package of funding for special projects to tackle and prevent homelessness across Northern Ireland.
Shelter Cymru released a report that claims Welsh local authorities are getting worse at dealing with homelessness. The report points to telephone advice and reception services provided by councils, which Shelter Cymru argues provide a poorer service than in 2003.
Speaking at a Shelter Cymru conference, Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales, announced that the Welsh Assembly's review of its homelessness strategy will introduce a greater focus on the prevention of homelessness across all sectors. The revised strategy will be published later this year.