MP attacks homelessness charities

Homelessness charities are inventing problems to prop up their ‘empires', a Labour MP claimed this week. Newport West MP Paul Flynn has tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons accusing charities of expanding the definition of homelessness simply to serve their own self interests. The EDM congratulates the Rough Sleepers Unit for slashing the number of people sleeping rough. But it criticises ‘the failure of certain homeless charities to acknowledge this success'. On his web site Mr Flynn attacks homelessness charities for ‘inventing crises and defending their empires', branding them ‘solutions in search of problems'. He accuses Crisis, which last week launched a campaign on hidden homelessness, of a ‘hugely expensive gimmick' when it sent MPs boxes made of card aimed at dispelling myths about homelessness. Crisis sent 600 boxes in total. ‘The homeless charity Crisis has failed to acknowledge that its raison d'etre is disappearing,' he said. ‘There has been a spectacular drop in the numbers of rough sleepers. The problem is diminishing, but there is no celebration from the homeless charities.' He told Inside Housing: ‘I believe that homeless people are people without a home. Just because the government uses it [the wider definition] doesn't mean it is correct. It is clearly an affront on common sense.' Tarig Hilal, policy manager at Crisis, said: ‘Homelessness has never been about rough sleeping alone. Most homeless people are families or single people not literally sleeping on the streets. ‘Crisis can't solve homelessness alone. We've got to campaign. We have a responsibility to campaign. The box is just a part of that process. We make no apology. It is an essential part of what we do.' Shelter this week said that the number of homeless households was likely to reach 100,000 by the end of the year, for the first time since 1997. Shelter said the definition of homelessness was expanded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, not the voluntary sector. ‘This is not in any way a manufactured problem by the voluntary sector to justify themselves,' a spokesperson said. Homeless Link director of policy and regions Tara Bradley said: ‘The work of the Rough Sleepers Unit was a partnership between homeless organisations, the government and other agencies. Without all of those partners the success wouldn't have happened.' MPs Terry Lewis, Mike Hancock and Gordon Prentice are among those who have signed Mr Flynn's early day motion.