Everyone indoors

The goal of ending rough sleeping in England once and for all by 2012 has already succeeded in uniting political parties.

As ambitions go it is one of the least equivocal. But despite this the main competition between Labour and the Conservative Party seems to have been who can shout most loudly about it.

In November 2008 the government set out a 15-point action plan, ‘No-one left out’, stating how it would achieve the goal. The report said the sight of a sleeping bag in a bus shelter should be seen as ‘morally outrageous’ in the 21st century.

Conservative London mayor Boris Johnson has been equally enthusiastic, echoing the pledge, and stating that it is ‘scandalous’ that people in London have to ‘resort to sleeping on the streets’. With 2012 fast approaching, however, does this rare unity mean this goal can be achieved? And if so, does this really mean that there will be no rough sleepers at all in England at all?

Recession’s role

Mike Barrett, chief executive of Kent-based charity Porchlight, says he thinks the goal is looking harder to reach than when the government set it in 2008.

‘When it first came out we weren’t looking down both barrels of the recession. There has to be some proper evaluation done of services factoring in the recessionary pressures.’ With growing redundancies and repossessions more people have likely to end up on the streets, he adds.
And if budget cuts are made to outreach service workers they would not be there to help new arrivals off the streets, Mr Barrett states.

Rosi Jack, communications officer at Cambridge-based homelessness charity Emmaus says she was pleased a target had been set - but she emphasises that tackling the problem could never be a numbers game.

She says: ‘We have to remember that homelessness is not about numbers and definitions - it’s about people with problems who need support to rebuild their lives. Moving someone off the streets is not the end of the story, it’s just a start. We need to look at long-term, individually tailored support if we are really to make homelessness a thing of the past.’

Duncan Shrubsole, director of policy and research at homelessness charity Crisis, says more help is needed from the prison service and NHS to make sure patients and ex-offenders do not become homeless when they leave the system.

He adds that there has always been debate about ‘how you would define success’ when it came to the 2012 target. He says the amount of time someone is on the streets is an important measure to look at.

‘We have failed if any single person is sleeping on the streets and stays there any time at all,’ he states.

London leads the way

Homelessness charities in the capital certainly agree with his assessment. In February 2009 Mr Johnson set up a group called the London Delivery Board, chaired by his housing advisor Richard Blakeway, to help the capital reach the target.

It included representatives from councils, the Communities and Local Government Department , along with Homeless Link, Crisis, St Mungo’s and Thames Reach.

Last week, Inside Housing revealed that the LDB is reworking the definition of rough sleeping ahead of 2012. This will define the time someone could spend on the street before they are said to be living on the street. This is in recognition of the fact the arrival of new rough sleepers can never be totally prevented.

The change has already provoked lively debate on Inside Housing’s website. Jeremy Swain, chief executive of Thames Reach, writes: ‘A target that includes a measurement of time as well as numbers of people on the street is far more challenging than a target that is just around a number.’

Westminster Council is another major player in the national debate - with the highest number of people rough sleeping of any local authority. While individual headcounts have fallen in recent years - from 90 in November 2007 to 70 in November 2009 - it has seen a rise in eastern European nationals on the streets. Its count on a single night in November 2009 found 45 homeless people from eastern Europe, compared to 18 in November 2007.

Rosemary Westbrook, Westminster’s director of housing, says it is the government’s responsibility to ensure foreign nationals have warned not to come to the UK unless fully prepared.

Bringing the UK Border Agency to the LDB table has helped resolve the the problem, she adds, for example by helping EU rough sleepers return to their countries.

The delivery board has, so far, appeared to have had success with some long-term rough sleepers.

The annual progress report of the LDB, discussed at a meeting last week, shows it has helped three quarters of London’s 205 most entrenched rough sleepers off the street. It has established a street doctor service - launching in March - and started to tackle the problem of homeless people sleeping on bendy buses.

Mr Blakeway says the work that hasbeen done so far with long-term rough sleepers will now be extended to other people living on the streets.

Overall, the commitment from all involved to hitting the 2012 target remains as strong as ever. For once, the main political parties appear to be working together with the main criticism being speed of movement rather than the overall aims. Redefining rough sleeping may appear controversial but it is something that charities seem to think is crucial in reaching this difficult goal. As David Fisher, director of services at homelessness charity Broadway says: ‘It [the 2012 target] is achievable as long as we are clear what we are talking about -
no-one living on the street.’

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