Crisis called on the Government to put £100 million a year towards learning opportunities in a bid to end homelessness. The Charity wants the money invested over the next three years to help homeless people acquire the skills necessary to lead independent lives.
The Charity's Chief Executive Leslie Morphy said: "Learning can literally change lives. If the Government recognised the importance of learning in tackling homelessness and committed substantial funds, we could help so many more homeless people."
Crisis wants the Government to use its upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review to commit £30 million a year towards extending the current Hostels Capital Improvement Programme. The hope is to create a network of centres where homeless people can get involved in learning.
The Charity wants a further £70 million a year used to enable 40,000 homeless people to undertake the Learning Power Award, a specially designed qualification.
According to Crisis, 97% of homeless people across the UK want a job but 37% have no qualifications at all. More than half have been out of work for over three years and just 2% are in full-time work.
Currently, only one in three hostels offers learning opportunities.
Crisis claims the proposed investment, compared with the annual £1 billion spent on the consequences of homelessness each year, would achieve long-term savings.
Source: 24dash.com
Housing Minister Yvette Cooper announced a £47.2 million grant to help local authorities tackle and prevent homelessness in their areas. This is a £3 million increase on last year's grant. It will help councils to continue progress in getting families out of temporary accommodation and sustain the 73% reduction in rough sleeping since 1998.
Since 2003, local authorities have had strategies in place to prevent and tackle homelessness. By 2008, the Government will have invested £300 million in prevention services, including rent deposit schemes and mediation services.
The Government has a declared commitment to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation by 50% by 2010. Although 86% of households in temporary accommodation live in self-contained housing, it does not provide the security and opportunities a settled home brings. The Government has also set a target to end the use of Bed & Breakfast accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year by 2010 - unless in an emergency and even then for not longer than 6 weeks.
National Statistics released in December show that new cases of homelessness have fallen by nearly half since their recent peak three years ago.
The statistics show that 19,390 new households became homeless during July to September 2006, the lowest number for more than twenty years. This continues the downward trend in acceptances over the last 3 years since the recent peak of 35,770 during the same period in 2003.
The figures also show a continued reduction of households in temporary accommodation - down 8% compared to the same time last year. There has been a steady drop over the last year, with the figure having now been reduced to 93,090.