Hope for the homeless

In the same week as the political parties in the UK were launching their manifestos, a major campaign on ending homelessness was launched at the European Parliament in Brussels. This is a challenging and ambitious goal, but Homeless Link believes it is achievable in this country and across Europe.

There is great potential to learn from the different approaches to tackling homelessness across the European Union. We hope that this campaign will act as a vehicle for shared learning and the promotion of good practice across Europe and that it will provide momentum for real change. For example, one issue where we could be developing effective strategic pan-European solutions is in relation to EU migration.

While attending the launch, I was surprised to hear MEPs say that little is happening in England on homelessness and that we in the homelessness sector need to be doing more to communicate the progress and good work that is going on, while highlighting where major issues and obstacles remain.

The target to end rough sleeping by 2012, supported by the Labour government and the mayor of London, has resulted in significant progress and has been a key focus for action. In London, for example, more than three quarters of the 205 most entrenched long-term rough sleepers have been helped off the streets. This has been achieved through strong partnership working by the Communities and Local Government department, the Greater London Authority, local authorities, health and voluntary agencies. Homeless Link hopes that the next government will retain a commitment to this target.

Homeless Link’s manifesto, ending homelessness together, identifies 10 steps to ending homelessness. The European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless campaign sets out five goals to end homelessness. Both campaigns include the goal of no one having to sleep rough, but also recognise that action needs to be taken to address other less visible forms of homelessness.

We support FEANTSA’s focus of moving from managing homelessness to ending it and the importance of ‘developing integrated, comprehensive, sustainable strategies that set targets based on the reality of homelessness and have as their ultimate goal its progressive elimination’. We look forward to the next government’s homelessness strategy based on the national picture of homelessness.

We hope that the European campaign will develop a range of approaches and means of sharing learning, good practice and solutions and result in action and change. Much more still needs to be done and in the current economic climate it will not be easy. Working together locally, nationally and internationally, we can make the goal of ending homelessness across Europe a reality.

Jacqui McCluskey is director of policy and knowledge at Homeless Link