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Burnham calls on government to declare ‘homelessness emergency’
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham will call on the government to declare a “homelessness emergency” in a speech later today.
Labour mayor Mr Burnham is set to tell Conservative ministers to match the recent importance placed on tackling climate change in their approach to tackling rough sleeping as he addresses public, private and third sector leaders this morning.
MPs approved a motion to declare a climate emergency last week.
Mr Burnham will say the government should adopt Greater Manchester’s plan to tackle rough sleeping as the national strategy.
And he will announce a 12-month extension to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, established last autumn to help every person sleeping on the streets of Greater Manchester.
The scheme, which was launched in November, aims to give those living on the streets a bed, food and shelter. More than 1,400 people have been helped since the scheme began, with 480 of these moving on to “a more suitable housing solution”.
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Mr Burnham is expected to say today: “Last week parliament voted, rightly, to declare a climate change emergency. But where is the declaration of a homelessness emergency?
“Surely, when hundreds are dying every year on British streets, that is exactly what is needed.
“People in doorways are in danger of being accepted as just an inevitable and unchangeable fact of modern life. It can’t be allowed to happen.
“This is a humanitarian crisis of our own making – and entirely fixable. We need to approach it with a new mindset and a new urgency.”
Nearly 600 people died while homeless in Wales and England in 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The metro mayor will argue that A Bed Every Night is “the most ambitious and joined-up approach to tackling rough sleeping in the country”.
He will add that “an effective respite service could pay for itself in part or even in full by reducing the call on other public services”.
Homelessness charity Crisis estimates emergency support services for a single rough sleeper can cost public bodies more than £20,000 a year, while A Bed Every Night costs £11,680 annually per person.
“There is no reason at all why other areas can’t set up a similar service. Devolution has made it easier for us to focus but it is not a pre-requisite,” Mr Burnham will say.
“There is evidence that a small percentage of people have come to Greater Manchester because of the higher level of provision compared to other areas.
“The answer to that is not to scale back what we are doing but for other places to do the same.”
He will also announce plans for a new Greater Manchester Ethical Lettings Agency and a Good Landlord Charter.
Mr Burnham made a manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester by 2020 ahead of being elected two years ago. The government has pledged to do so by 2027.
