Homeless Families ‘Falling Through The Cracks’
More than 32,000 homeless families in England and Wales have been abandoned by councils since 2015 because they missed at least one step in a rigid process for getting help.
Leading campaigners worry vulnerable homeless people – including those with mental health problems – are being left on the streets because of things as minor as missing an email or an undelivered letter. The Bureau Of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) has spoken to people experiencing homelessness, as well as campaign groups and charities, and found that one specific clause in Welsh housing legislation has given councils the means to close almost 10,000 cases for those with complex needs. That loophole has now been brought into English law, with another 22,000 families affected in a single year. The revelations come as part of the Bureau’s ‘Locked Out’ investigation into homelessness, published in partnership with HuffPost UK.
Leanne Wood, the former leader of Plaid Cymru said: “Councils should be removing barriers from people’s routes to accommodation, not putting more in their way. The system should be working with them, not against them.” Wood told the Bureau some councils “manipulate the system” to dismiss people who are among the most vulnerable asking for council help. “People who are homeless often don’t have the means to stay in contact with the authorities and by the nature of what can be quite chaotic lives, some will naturally find it difficult to stay in touch and attend the correct appointments,” said Wood, who is Plaid Cymru’s housing spokeswoman.
The Housing (Wales) Act was introduced in 2015 and since it came into force councils have closed more than 4,500 cases because the housing officer deemed the applicant “uncooperative”. A further 5,000 cases were closed due to “loss of contact”. Once a case is closed, the only option is to restart the weeks-long process again from the beginning. In England, in the first year since the Homelessness Reduction Act was introduced in April 2018, bringing the new clause into effect in England, 22,000 households have been left without help because of “loss of contact”.
Sophie Boobis, of Crisis England, said it took years for people in Wales to see how this clause was used to “gate-keep” services. “I think it is certainly a warning and something that needs to be kept a very close eye on in England.” She said it was too early to see a direct effect in England, but added: “Follow-ups are not happening. People are going long periods waiting. If the local authority is not keeping regular contact then they are not going to be able to find them again. In that case, there will be a lot of people falling through the ‘loss of contact’ gap.”
The Bureau found that despite the Welsh and English laws introducing new responsibilities for councils, very little extra funding was provided. The Welsh Local Government Association estimated that funding for local housing services has been cut by a quarter since 2009. Last year 32 households became homeless every day in Wales according to Shelter Cymru. In England, local homelessness services face a shortfall of £110million this year, according to research by the Local Government Association, and that is set to rise.
