Pupil Who Invented Device To Help Homeless Named ‘Girl Of The Year’

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A Glasgow school pupil has been named among Time magazine’s girls of the year for inventing a device to help homeless people keep warm, reports the BBC.

Rebecca Young was 12 when she designed a solar-powered blanket, which engineering firm Thales then turned into reality. The Kelvinside Academy pupil is now among 10 girls from across the world selected by Time who have inspired and helped communities. She told BBC Scotland News that she was shocked and honoured by the recognition, which has also seen her turned into a Lego mini-figure, due to the awards being run in partnership with the Danish toy manufacturer.

Rebecca first came up with the idea when she was aged12 while attending an engineering club at school. She explained: “Seeing all the homeless people, it made me want to help – it’s a problem that should be fixed. During the day, the heat from the sun can energise the solar panels and they go into a battery pack that can store the heat. When it’s cold at night people can use the energy stored in the battery pack to sleep on. In Glasgow it can be freezing at night and they [homeless people] will have no power, so I thought the solar panel could heat it.”

Rebecca’s idea came out on top in the UK Primary Engineer competition, where more than 70,000 pupils entered ideas aimed around addressing a social issue. Engineering company Thales then turned the idea into a working prototype, with 35 units given to Homeless Project Scotland to use in Glasgow. That achievement led Rebecca to a spot on Time’s list, which the magazine’s chief executive Jessica Sibley said highlights “those who are turning imagination into real-world impact”.

Rebecca’s mum Louise told BBC Scotland News: “I couldn’t be more proud, it’s fantastic. It’s obviously all come from a drawing and going from that to it actually being made is amazing.” As part of the honour, Rebecca and the other nine winners are appearing on a digital cover of the famous magazine, where they are styled as Lego mini-figures – something she said was both “really cool and crazy”.

She also had advice for any other girls who wanted to get involved in Stem subjects – an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “If you have an idea like I did, then join clubs and talk to people about it, it helps.” Reflecting on the Time magazine recognition, she added: “All my friends think it’s awesome.” However, Rebecca herself is aiming for a career in a different field rather than engineering, as she would like to be a musician when she is older.

Colin McInnes, the founder of Homeless Project Scotland, said the initiative had already been successful. He added: “When somebody is having to rough sleep because the shelter is full, we can offer that comfort to a homeless person, of having a warm blanket to wrap around them during the night. We would 100% take the opportunity to have more of them.”

Daniel Wyatt, the rector at Kelvinside Academy, said Rebecca was a “shining example of a caring young person”. He added: “She is also a role model for any young person who wants to follow their own path in life.”

What’s Happening With The Renters’ Rights Bill?

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The fight to abolish section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions is entering its final stage, reports Shelter.

After months of waiting, the Renters’ Rights Bill is reaching the end of its journey through parliament and could soon become law. With most of the debates in the House of Commons and House of Lords finished, the final stages of the bill’s journey will begin early in September. But renters can’t truly wave goodbye to the spectre of section 21 evictions until the government passes the bill and then brings these changes into force.

The government promised to ban section 21 evictions ‘immediately’ over a year ago. Yet peers in the House of Lords have slowed down the process and weakened vital tenant rights. MPs have the opportunity to claim back those important rights for renters and push through a strong Renters’ Rights Bill at pace. Renters can’t wait much longer.

Before the turn of the new year, the Renters’ Rights Bill had made rapid progress through its early stages in the House of Commons. Renters won vital protections in the process, including a game-changing ban on landlords asking for more than one month’s rent in advance. More recently, the bill has been marked by slow progress and delays. As a result, one year on from their election, the government have not passed any new laws to protect renters. And there has still been no timeline attached to when ‘no fault’ evictions will finally be scrapped. All the while, renters are being evicted in their thousands.

In the year after Labour were elected, around 25,000 households have been threatened with homelessness due to a section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction (and this continues to rise). And in that time, we’ve also seen some potentially damaging row-backs made to the bill. A disproportionate number of peers in the House of Lords are landlords themselves. They have debated and voted through some worrying revisions. These changes, if held up in the bill’s final stages, would weaken tenants’ rights:

The evidence bar for issuing landlords with fines was increased.

  • Local authorities, under this change, would have to prove ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ that a landlord had broken the rules. Only then would they be able to hit them with a fine. Vital new rights in the bill would be rendered almost worthless – such as the protection of families with children and benefits recipients from discrimination. Discrimination is particularly ‘slippery’ and almost impossible to prove ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.
  • The ‘no re-letting period’ prevents landlords, who say they’re evicting to move into the property or sell it, from putting the property up for rent again afterwards. It deters landlords from evicting tenants under false pretences just to find a new tenant or let at a higher rent. Reducing this period to 6 months weakens that deterrent and puts the new system at risk of abuse by unscrupulous landlords. We could see many renters continue to be unfairly evicted.
  • A new right for landlords to ask for an extra three weeks’ deposit for tenants with pets was introduced. Tenants with pets could have to pay eight weeks’ deposit in total, on top of moving costs and the first month’s rent. The five-week cap on deposits was a hard-fought right for renters. Increasing the cap for pet owners risks creating an unequal market. Renters with pets could be locked out of rentals by unreasonably large upfront costs.

These last-minute revisions to the bill are not good news for renters. But the government has a strong majority in the House of Commons and a clear manifesto promise to end ‘no fault’ evictions. They have both the power and the responsibility to resist these changes from the House of Lords. More than that, ministers must recognise the urgency of the moment. The Renters’ Rights Bill needs to become law without further delay. And crucially, it must be brought into force swiftly and in full. Every day of inaction means more renters losing their homes through no fault of their own. Renters can’t afford to keep waiting.

What happens next?

There are three stages remaining before the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law.

1. ‘Ping pong’ – Next up is what’s known as ‘consideration of amendments’. MPs debate all changes made by the House of Lords and vote on whether to accept them. If MPs reject the changes, the bill goes back to the House of Lords for peers to review these decisions. Peers can insist on changes, propose compromise positions – or, of course, concede defeat and accept MPs’ decisions. The bill can bounce back and forth between the houses like this – a process known as ‘ping pong’ – several times, until consensus is reached.

2. Royal Assent – Once the bill is acceptable to both houses, it’s scheduled for ‘Royal Assent’. Royal Assent refers to when the King signs the bill, and it finally becomes an Act of Parliament. This is the moment that signals an end to all the debates, amendments and wrangling over the bill’s contents.

3. Commencement – However, in the case of the Renters’ Rights Bill, there’s yet another crucial date to be concerned with: the ‘commencement’ date. This is when the most important changes are actually implemented and make a tangible difference to renters’ lives. It’s the moment section 21 evictions will officially be scrapped. Landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants without giving a reason. The commencement date could come some months after Royal Assent. This will give landlords and tenants time to prepare for their new rights and responsibilities.

Renters need a date

The government has yet to announce the commencement date.

Until they do, renters won’t know when they’ll be able to finally wave goodbye to ‘no fault’ evictions. And with every day that passes before actually bringing these vital changes into force, more renters will be forced out of their homes for no reason at all. The government must get a move on. They must pass this bill without delay and give renters certainty about when their new rights will come into effect.

Cost Of Living Payments: Where To Get Help Now The Scheme Is Over

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This is everything you need to know about the help available now that the cost of living payments have come to an end, reports the Big Issue.

Cost of living payments have come to an end and the government has no plans to continue the scheme. Millions of low-income households received cost of living payments from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) between 2022 and 2024 to help them cover the cost of their bills. The last one hit bank accounts between 6 February and 22 February 2024. This was the third of three payments totalling £900 for 2023 and 2024. They were given to around eight million low-income households on means-tested benefits, and followed two payments totalling up to £650 for 2022 to 2023. For many households the cost of living payments were a lifeline that helped them afford their basic essentials at a time when bills and food prices were skyrocketing.

The cost of things has not come down but it has levelled out over the last year, and the government chose not to continue with the one-off payments. But if you are still worried about the cost of living, know that you are not alone and there is help out there for people if you need it. Here’s everything you need to know now the cost of living payment has ended – including whether you could receive additional benefits, how to avoid cost of living payment scams and where else you can go to get support now that the cost of living payment has ended.

Now that cost of living payments are over, there are other places people can go to get help. People who are struggling financially may be eligible for charitable grants. You can find out what grants might be available to you using Turn2Us’ grant search on the charity’s website. There are a huge range of grants available for different people – including those who are bereaved, disabled, unemployed, redundant, ill, a carer, veteran, young person or old person. Grants are also usually available to people who have no recourse to public funds and cannot claim welfare benefits.

If you are unable to pay your bills, your local council may have a scheme that can help you. Local councils may be able to give you debt advice, help you get hold of furniture and support you through food and fuel poverty. Your council may also have a local welfare assistance scheme, also known as crisis support. You can also find out what support your council offers through End Furniture Poverty’s local welfare assistance finder or by contacting your local authority directly. You may be able to get help with essential costs from your local council through the household support fund. This might be through providing food vouchers in the school holidays, debt and money advice, white goods or short-term cash payments – but every council has their own scheme and eligibility criteria, so you’ll have to contact them directly or check their website to find out what support they offer.

You can find your local food bank through the Trussell Trust’s website or the IFAN’s member’s map. You can also call the Trussell Trust’s free helplines and talk to a trained adviser. It’s 0808 208 2138 if you live in England or Wales, and 0800 915 4604 if you live in Northern Ireland. You should contact your local council if you live in Scotland. You could be entitled to benefits and tax credits if you are working or unemployed, sick or disabled, a parent, a young person, an older person or a veteran. You can use the charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator to find out what benefits you are entitled to claim.  Citizens Advice offers information and services to help people and they can advise you as to what financial support is available from the government to help you.

Just under £19 billion in benefits goes unclaimed each year, according to research by Policy in Practice. That’s often because people don’t know about them, can’t access them and because of the stigma around asking for help.

But it’s so important to claim support you’re entitled to.

Most people on DWP benefits received the last cost of living payment between Tuesday, February 6 and Thursday, February 22. This was the third and final payment for the 2023/2024 period and there are no further payments planned. The previous payment of £300 was paid between 31 October and 19 November 2023.  There is a chance payments could have been paid late – such as if you were made eligible for a qualifying benefit at a later date or you change the bank account your benefit or tax credits are paid into.

If someone contacts you about a future cost of living payment, it could be a scam. You did not need to apply for the payment, and official bodies like the DWP and HMRC never ask for your bank details by SMS or email. You can find advice on spotting scams by visiting the government’s website. Suspicious emails can be forwarded to report@phishing.gov.uk, so the National Security Cyber Centre will investigate it, and texts to 7726, which will report the text to your mobile phone provider.

People receiving certain benefits or tax credits were eligible for the cost of living payment. This included: universal credit, income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), income support, pension credit, child tax credit and working tax credit. You also had to have been receiving one of these benefits between November 13 and December 12, 2023, or a payment for an assessment period ending between these dates. If you get both child tax credit and working tax credit you will only have received a cost of living payment for child tax credit. If you get tax credits from HMRC and a benefit from the DWP, you’ll only have received the payment from the DWP. Couples with a joint claim only received single payments between them. You will not have got a payment if you are only getting the new style employment and support allowance, contributory employment and support allowance, or new style jobseeker’s allowance.

If your benefit was reduced to £0 for the qualifying period, you were also not eligible. This is sometimes called ‘nil award’ and refers to when you stop getting benefits for a variety of reasons. This could be because your earnings go up (or your partner’s earnings go up), you start getting another benefit or your savings go up. If you are getting tax credits from HMRC and a low-income benefit from DWP, you will only have got the one cost of living payment. In this case, payment will have shown as ‘HMRC COLS’ in bank and building society accounts, so that people know the money is cost of living support. The £150 disability cost of living payment was paid to disabled people who receive certain benefits between 20 June and 4 July, 2023. There are no further payments planned.

Homelessness Minister Quits Over Rent Hike Claims

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Downing Street has confirmed that Rushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister, reports the BBC.

The move comes after she was accused of hypocrisy over the way she handled rent increases on a house she owns in east London. There were calls for her to step down from homelessness charities and opposition politicians. In a letter to the prime minister she said “at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements” but that remaining in the role would be a “distraction from the ambitious work of this government”.

The row was sparked after Ali ended her tenants’ fixed-term contract in order to sell up, but then re-listed the house for rent at a higher price within six months, which is something she is currently trying to outlaw under the Renters’ Rights Bill. In a story first broken by the I Paper, a former tenant said she was sent an email in November giving four months’ notice the lease would not be renewed. She said shortly after she and the three other tenants had moved out, the house in east London had been re-listed at a rent £700 a month higher.

In a letter to the prime minister, Ali wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that I offer you my resignation as a minister.” Insisting that “at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements” she added: “I believe I took my responsibilities and duties seriously, and the facts demonstrate this. However, it is clear that continuing in my role will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government. I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position.”

Responding to her resignation, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer thanked her for her work, which he called “diligent”. The PM praised her work to repeal the Vagrancy Act and added: “I know you will continue to support the government from the backbenches and represent the best interests of your constituents in Bethnal Green and Stepney.”

A source close to Ali said the previous fixed-term contract had been ended because the house was being put up for sale and the tenants had been told they could stay on a rolling basis while the house was on the market, but they had chosen to go. The house was put on the market in November 2024 with an asking price of £914,995 but that was reduced in February by £20,000 and the i Paper said it had only been re-listed as a rental because it had not sold.

Ali’s resignation is particularly awkward because of the subject matter, as Labour went into the election promising to strengthen the rights of private tenants. The very rules they are taking through Parliament at the moment would have stopped what Ali has been accused of. The government’s Renters’ Rights Bill is in its final stages in Parliament, and will ban landlords re-listing a property for rent, if they have ended a tenancy in order to sell, for six months. Landlords must also give four months’ notice to tenants when the legislation is passed, which is not expected to be until at least next year.

London Renters Union spokesperson Siân Smith said Ali’s actions were “indefensible” and she “must step down” due to a “clear conflict of interest” with the Bill in its final stages. The Renters’ Reform Coalition, which represents private renters, said her resignation was “the right decision”. “Her position was completely untenable,” said director Tom Darling. “The government must get on now and end no-fault evictions urgently so that no more tenants are subject to the kind of behaviour Rushanara Ali engaged in.”

Since Ali has quit quickly, the story is unlikely to drag on, but it marks another embarrassing departure for the government. Ali is the sixth MP who has quit Starmer’s government over policy or because of allegations made against them. That is not the sort of number that threatens the government. But it is embarrassing for a government that had a long time in opposition to get its house in order.

This was also not the first time Ali has been criticised. She had to give up part of her ministerial portfolio last year, when she attended a conference linked to the parent company of one of the firms heavily criticised in the recent Grenfell inquiry. Giving up her duties managing building safety and the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire, she said she was relinquishing her building safety brief because “perception matters”.

Farm’s Homeless Hostel Is ‘Like My Family’

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A farm that has converted an old dairy house into a homeless hostel has had “above average success” helping people rebuild their lives, reports the BBC.

“Farms are mainly places we grow food,” says farmer Rob Addicott, “but they are also incredibly therapeutic.” The hostel, in Somerset, is home to seven people at a time who are recovering from drug or alcohol problems and have been sleeping rough, usually in the countryside. Dan, one of the residents, describes the project as “like a family to me now, it’s beautiful”.

Set in the Mendip Hills near Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Manor Farm is picture postcard Somerset. A walk along the old dry-stone walls with the wind in your face attracts thousands of townies. But imagine sheltering under that wall at night, like those who sleep rough in the countryside. For rural rough sleepers, a busy hostel in a town or city is often also a scary place.

Rob and Suzanne Addicott decided they wanted to share their farm buildings with those without a bed. And they have done so professionally, with the local council and a charity that provide social work support. Residents are given intensive help to get their lives back on track. They also help out in the kitchen garden, growing veg, fruit and flowers for a box scheme. That’s where I found Dan, picking tomatoes in the polytunnel. “I love it,” he smiled. “I love nature, so it is for me. All the staff are so lovely, and to work with the plants is beautiful.”

The garden is managed by Lily O’Dowd, who not only has to grow a full kitchen garden of produce, but also has to schedule jobs for the residents and keep everyone busy. “No matter how they come to the session,” she says, “they always leave with a smile. It’s great to see them working together, teasing each other. They always leave with joy from the session. And the satisfaction of having grown something, from a seed all the way through to harvesting it.”

The residents work alongside volunteers in the gardens, who also deliver the veg boxes and cook a community meal once a week. When I visited, they had made most of the lunch from the tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers and onions from the gardens. Simply cooking and eating a meal together is part of the therapy, as support worker Kate Dixon explains. She says: “For a lot of people coming out of homelessness and into recovery, they’ve lived in a very selfish way. Part of the healing is to learn to live with other people, and know there are people there for them too.”

The house and gardens are now run as a stand alone Community Interest Company, Roots Connections. For Farmer Rob, who still farms the fields around the project, the Dairy House has been a real success. He says: “People have gone on to earn their own house, or sustain a tenancy, and find meaningful work. A lot of people end up volunteering back in this sector, working with nature, because they want to give back to what they’ve come from.”

And that is exactly what Dan plans to do, once he has found his feet and a new home. “I’d like to volunteer in a project like this, or maybe with horses and animals. I love nature, and it’s what I know, so it suits me fine,” he smiles.

Asylum Hotel Protests Are Spreading

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Protests outside asylum hotels have once again kicked off around the UK. The Big Issue asks – but who’s really behind them?

Far-right activists are “parachuting” into communities to stoke tensions, experts and campaigners alike have warned – just like they did last summer. “This is not just concerned local mums,” said Samira Ali, national officer with Stand Up To Racism. “This is organised right-wing activism.” Epping is the centre of the current unrest. Multiple demonstrations have been held outside The Bell Hotel in the Essex town after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.

Initial protests were peaceful, with locals gathering outside the hotel where the man was housed. But things quickly escalated, anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate reports, with the demonstration co-opted by “masked men intent on violence”. Two Bell Hotel security guards were attacked at a bus stop and hospitalised for their wounds; a total of 14 people have been charged for violence after attacking police vehicles. The scenes – unsettlingly reminiscent of last summer’s early riots – follow a pattern, Ali told Big Issue. A local incident sparks local concern, then the far-right swoop in to advance their own agenda. The alleged assault was a “heinous” incident, she adds, “but that’s not what these protests are about.”

The Epping unrest culminated on Sunday (27 July), when 400 anti-migration demonstrators were met by some 2,000 counter-protesters. Among the right-wing signs – boasting slogans like “deport foreign criminals” – were pleas for local support: “Put local people first.” “Most of the people outside that hotel in Epping weren’t far right or far left,” said Reform leader Nigel Farage, they “were just genuinely concerned families”. New evidence refutes this claim. While protests began locally, they were rapidly co-opted by far-right agitators. The Epping Says No Facebook group – the forum on which demonstrations have been organised – is administered by three members of the political party Homeland. This extremist right-wing organisation is a splinter of the neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative; Hope not Hate describe it as the largest fascist group in the UK.

“There are of course some local people there [at the Epping protest] yes,” said Aurelien Mondon, a professor of politics at the University of Bath and the co-convenor of the Reactionary Politics Research Network. “But what is clear is that far-right organisations have been exploiting these protests and quite often it is their presence that escalates things, and ends up making them turn into violence.” Epping is not an isolated incident. On Monday (28 July), demonstrations flared in Diss, Norfolk outside a similar hotel. And two weeks ago, loyalists in Northern Ireland burned effigies of refugees sitting on a boat. Such protests are organised on far-right social media networks, where existing rhetoric inflames existing tensions. Notorious right-wing and anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson (who has allegedly fled the country after punching a man in London this week) posted excessively about Epping: he claimed that he would attend the protest before pulling out at the last minute.

Members of Blood & Honour, Britain First, For Britain, the Homeland Party and White Vanguard – all avowedly racist organisations – were present at the Bell Hotel, according to Hope Not Hate. Several of these groups have been banned or flagged by authorities across Europe for promoting violent extremism. “It starts as a local concern and then the mask slips – these people are from a fascist group,” Ali says. The counter-protests are also largely from out of town, with most coming in from locations across London.

The protests have attracted a great deal of political concern. Prime minister Keir Starmer reportedly told ministers that Britain’s “social fabric” must be repaired, and integration must be improved in areas with high immigrant populations. Deputy PM Angela Rayner said that immigration was having a “profound impact on society” and generating “real concerns”.

There seems to be a political consensus that these protests manifest the legitimate concerns of local people. But Mondon fears a “legitimisation” of the far-right narrative. “The responsibility here is not so much in the popularity of the far right, although we shouldn’t deny that – there is a significant minority of people who are espousing these views,” he said. “I think the really responsibility here is in the role of mainstream actors who have emboldened these politics by legitimising them. There are not more far-right than there were before, but they are more emboldened.”

Keir Starmer’s pursuit of the Reform vote – embodied in the ‘island of strangers’ – is a key element of this. “This government has been legitimising the idea that people arriving by boat are a threat.” The summer may yet prove to be another “summer of discontent”, Mondon added: “It’s kind of a powder-keg that could explode very quickly.” But that’s down to a tiny minority of people who should not be pandered to, he said. “As soon as the counter protestors organised, the counter protest dwarfed the protest. We need to make clear it is a tiny minority people. Most people are either uninterested or against these kinds of of demonstrations, this kind of politics, but the far right is trying to divide us. The government shouldn’t focus on scapegoating and should instead look to improve the meaningful conditions of people’s lives. People are right to be angry at a system that doesn’t serve them, but immigrants shouldn’t be the target of that anger.”

Research out this week shows that the decline of public venues – such as pubs, piers and youth clubs – created a social vacuum that allowed “misinformation and hate” to thrive. “Rebuilding local infrastructure isn’t just about nostalgia – it’s a vital bulwark against division and the dangerous pull of the far right,” said Dr Sacha Hilhorst from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Despite the rise in far-right mobilisation, campaigners say the tide can be turned. “It can feel like the far right is on the march,” said Samira Ali. “But we have to remember that there is an anti-racist majority in Britain. And when we mobilise, we can push back. We can build a moment of hope and show our strength and solidarity.”

Already, counter-protesters have outnumbered far-right demonstrators in key towns like Epping. With more than 50 far-right events are planned nationwide in the coming weeks – including a so-called “Abolish Asylum Day” on 8 August – mobilisation is urgent. “Our anti-racism movement can stop this,” Ali said. “We want people to get organised, to get informed, and to show up – because silence only helps the far right.”

Homeless Hostel Failed Vulnerable Resident Before Fatal Overdose

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Investigation into death of Joe Black, 39, at Holmes Road in Camden found inadequate support and missed safeguarding opportunities, reports the Guardian.

An award-winning homeless hostel in the constituency of the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has been lambasted after an independent investigation into the death of one of its residents. Joe Black, 39, died after a drug overdose in 2023 at Holmes Road Studios in Camden, north London. He was a talented musician who had studied at the Royal Northern College of Music as a child. The hostel, which won a prestigious award from the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) and boasted a zero-tolerance policy to drugs, was created for single homeless people with support needs. But residents told the Guardian that it was “like a legalised crack den” where drugs were consumed and sold on site. They alleged staff turned a blind eye to dealing and offered little in the way of support.

The Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR), a multi-agency process that examines cases where an adult with care and support needs has experienced serious harm or death due to abuse or neglect, concluded that Black was failed in multiple ways. Black had been cuckooed in his previous residence, with drug dealers taking over his flat and threatening to kill him. Despite this and a dual diagnosis of schizophrenia and substance misuse, the SAR stated that “his vulnerability does not appear to have been fully recognised”. A case note at the time that Black moved into Holmes Road says that although he had not taken drugs since the cuckooing, he “might be tempted back into drug use by other residents who may still be users” was ignored. The review said this “should have been seen as a theme throughout Joe’s support planning and risk assessments whilst he was at Holmes Road’’.

The hostel was criticised for not referring him for a care needs assessment to see whether Black needed a care coordinator (he had previously had one when living in another London borough), not treating his schizophrenia and substance misuse in tandem, not working effectively with him or his mother, not referring him to the national drug and alcohol service, and classifying him as “medium risk” only a month before he died. “The risk was clearly ‘high’ given his death so soon after,” it concluded. The review said that the hostel did not make it clear what service and support it offered. “A Google search will show the architectural merits of the hostel, but not the services and support offered,” it stated.

At the inquest into Black’s death in December 2024, Black’s key worker at Holmes Road said that he was known to be “very active in the hostel at night procuring substances”, and that staff knew he “spent all his money on drugs”. The key worker also acknowledged that after a safeguarding incident in March 2023, he was known to be “extremely vulnerable and being exploited in the hostel” yet no action was taken to escalate concern or further support. The coroner found that naloxone, a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose if administered in time, was locked in the office and only available through Camden’s drug and alcohol services. After the inquest, he wrote a prevention of future deaths report suggesting naloxone should be made more readily available.

A Camden council spokesperson said: “We will take on the learning from the review, which will help us work with our partners in a more coordinated and effective way to improve the support Camden residents receive. In addition to the recommendations in Joe’s safeguarding review, we have made improvements to the operation of Holmes Road hostel in the last year and agreed a plan for further improvements to support residents living in our hostels.” The spokesperson added: “We have a zero-tolerance approach to drug dealing and while some residents who come to the hostel may be using drugs, we provide drug intervention services to help and support them.”

In a statement to the review, Black’s family said: “On day one at the Holmes Road hostel, Joe sent a message to his mother, Jude, saying that it was ‘hell on earth for me’ there. His words, ‘I am going to die here, mum’ will haunt her forevermore.” The family added: “We sincerely hope that the recommendations of this Safeguarding Adults Review are urgently put in place in Joe’s memory and that they will have a positive, lasting impact on the care and support for vulnerable adults with a complex mental illness. We remain devastated by Joe’s death and do not want any other family to endure such a tragic loss and the deepest grief.”

High Rents One Cause Of Rising Homelessness

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Figures from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) show that the number of people “living on the streets” in London from April to June this year is up 26% from the same period of 2024. And it’s more than double compared to ten years ago, reports Letting Agent Today.

The data shows:

  • The number of people deemed to be ‘living on the streets’ is 788, up by 26% on the same period last year and up 102% compared to ten years ago.
  • A person is considered to be “living on the streets” if they have had multiple contacts with outreach teams over three weeks or more.
  • Overall 4392 people were recorded sleeping rough in London between April and June, up from 4% on the same time last year. This is up 58% compared to ten years ago.
  • The number of people sleeping rough for the first time in London between April and June has risen 4% compared to the same period last year and 33% from the number ten years ago.
  • The number women seen sleeping rough increased by 13% to 755 compared to same time last year. This made up 18% of all people seen sleeping rough between April and June.

A statement from homelessness charity Crisis says several factors are driving people onto the streets and keeping them there including rising rents, real-terms cuts to housing benefit and significant gaps in support services. Underpinning these issues is a chronic shortage of social and affordable housing across Britain, which is pushing more people to the brink and into all forms of homelessness. The new data on rough sleeping follows government figures released last week showing more than 130,000 households in temporary accommodation in England at the end of March 2025. This includes almost 170,000 children – a record high.

Crisis welcomes the recent commitment by the UK Government of £39 billion in funding for social and affordable homes and the announcement of £100m for homelessness prevention between 2026-27 and 2029-30. However, the charity stresses the need for these homes to be delivered as quickly as possible, for housing benefit to be restored to cover the cheapest third of rents, and for gaps in support services to be addressed. It emphasises the importance of addressing these issues in the forthcoming cross-government strategy on ending homelessness, due later this year, which will outline how departments will work together to tackle the issue.

Matt Downie, Crisis chief executive, says: “We have seen positive steps to tackle homelessness in the UK Government’s recent Spending Review, including vital funding for social and affordable housing. We were also pleased that the Mayor of London’s plan for tackling rough sleeping included housing as a solution. However, far too many people are still being forced to sleep rough across Britain.”

“It’s crucial that the forthcoming cross-government strategy for ending homelessness is joined up with plans for delivering social homes as quickly as possible, so that people can move into secure housing as a matter of urgency. Westminster must also reverse the cut to housing benefit, which is putting people at risk of losing their homes now, and fix gaps in support services so that people are not discharged from institutions including hospitals and prisons onto the streets. Homelessness should not exist in our society. It can and must be prevented as a matter of national priority.”

Rough Sleepers In Liverpool Ordered To Pack Up Their Tents

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One man said “I can’t even go to the toilet without fear of having my tent taken”, reports the Liverpool Echo.

People sleeping rough on the streets of Liverpool woke this morning to find notices pinned to their tents ordering them to move on, or pay the costs. The letters, from the Highways Department at Liverpool City Council, said the tents on Lord Street and Church Street were “an obstruction and a nuisance”. The people living in the tents now have seven days to move, or risk losing their shelter as the Council will seek a disposal order from the magistrates’ court.

Ed Fryer was one of the people issued with the notice this morning, July 22. The 49-year-old, who told The ECHO he had been sleeping rough on and off for most of his life, currently resides in a tent in the city centre with his two dogs, Lillian and Big Bear. He said: “I’ve had about 20 tents taken. The Council keeps taking them. They give you seven days and after that they take it to court. You don’t appear in court, but after that they come back with another one of these (letters), and a few days later they take your tent. It leaves me without a tent with the two dogs out here. Everything is soaking wet already because of the rain. So it’s not great. But it’s the only little bit of shelter I’ve got. I’m not bothered about myself but it’s my dogs, they’re my babies. If it didn’t have them I’d have nothing.”

He added: “As soon as your back’s turned, I can’t even go to the toilet without fear of having my tent taken, and all my belongings. I keep saying there’s only one way from here and that’s up. But it’s not because they keep trying to push us down further. It’s like I’ve been thrown in the Mersey and someone’s got their foot down on my head. That’s how it feels.” He said he had been offered a place to stay by the YMCA – but that he was told he would have to get rid of one of his beloved dogs, which he refused to do.

Another man, who was sleeping rough on Lord Street, said: “They give us a date to move on. You pick up your tent and move down the street somewhere else, just keep moving on. I’ve always just moved on, so I don’t know what actually happens if I didn’t move my tent. (I’ll go) to one side of the city, then I’ll come back again. You can sleep on the ground, but you can’t have a tent, that’s what they say. You can sleep in the shelter, you can sleep in a doorway, you can sleep (on the street), but you can’t have this.”

The notices, sent under Section 149 (1) of the Highways Act 1980, read: “To the person who deposited the tent placed on the highway at [street name]. TAKE NOTICE that Liverpool City Council (‘the Council’) being the highway authority for the area of Liverpool considers that the tent placed on the highway at [street name] Liverpool constitutes an obstruction and a nuisance. The Council therefore requires the tent to be removed from the highway forthwith. If you fail to remove the tent within the next seven days, then the Council will without further notice make a complaint to the magistrates’ court for a removal and disposal order to remove the tent and recover all the associated costs of removal from you.”

Along with the notice, Ed said he had been provided with a postcard containing a link to the “help for rough sleepers” section of the Council website. The page invites anyone who is concerned about someone sleeping rough in Liverpool to call the 24-hour ‘Always Help Available’ helpline on 0300 123 2041, or make an online referral to the Whitechapel centre.

He said: “They say phone it and you’ll get help and support, but you just end up back in your tent. He added: “We didn’t ask for this. It’s a vicious circle. Some people (on the streets) try to rob you so you don’t know who you can trust. You don’t know who you can turn to. Everyone needs an escape somehow. I’ve got my dogs. I have a little drink sometimes, I’ll be honest. My money goes on dog food and dog treats. I feed them before I feed myself because they can’t do it themselves. I’ve been out here too long. On and off most of my life. They’ve got me down as a prolific rough sleeper. I’m a recovering addict so hostels are not good for me – before you know it you’re back to square one, and I’d end up losing my dogs.”

A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: “Our highways maintenance team checks weekly for tents that may be obstructing the public highway or blocking buildings’ emergency exits and will take appropriate action as needed. As well as ensuring that the highway is safe for everyone, the council and its partners also takes a ‘safeguarding first’ approach to the use of tents and other shelters, as using tents can present a number of issues for vulnerable people, for example if they are unwell and need emergency assistance. To support rough sleepers, the council funds a range of services including the Liverpool Assertive Outreach and Response Service. As always, anyone concerned about a rough sleeper can contact the Always Help Available helpline on 0300 123 2041 at any time.”

Child Poverty And Homelessness In Merseyside Is Rising

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The Labour government may have promised change but the numbers are going in the wrong direction, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Child poverty and child homelessness is rising – with worrying new numbers showing the scale of the problems facing youngsters in our region. While the new Labour government has pledged to address these critical issues, our data shows things are going in the wrong direction. That data shows that a record number of homeless children were living in temporary accommodation in Merseyside in March. There were a total of 1,749 children declared homeless and living in temporary accommodation in Merseyside between January and March this year, according to figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. That’s up from 1,356 at the end of June, just before the new Labour government came to power, and is the highest number since quarterly local authority level figures became available in June of 2019.

Back then there were 328 homeless children in temporary accommodation across our county, five times fewer than in March of this year. The bulk of the total are located in Liverpool. There were 1,246 homeless children in the city at the end of March. That’s up from 966 in the three months to June last year, and 211 in the three months to June 2019. The number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation across England has also risen to record levels. There were 169,050 children living in temporary accommodation across the country in the three months ending March 2025. It’s the highest number on record, up from 159,380 at the end of June last year, just before the election. National figures go further back than local data. There were 51,310 homeless children living in temporary accommodation in March 2010, just before the Conservative-led coalition government came to power. That means the number more than trebled under the coalition and Conservative governments.

Responding to the figures, Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “Behind every statistic are thousands of stories of people facing some of the most stressful, traumatic and insecure times of their lives. More and more children are spending their formative years trapped living in temporary accommodation, often in overcrowded and unsafe conditions and at huge cost to local authorities. This is a national scandal that demands government action. Renting is broken. With rent prices soaring far beyond what we earn, people are forced into temporary accommodation because they simply can’t find somewhere affordable to live. The government’s house building programme is welcome, but will take years to have a noticeable impact. People need change now. Government must slam the brakes on soaring rents, while also unfreezing Local Housing Allowance so those on low incomes are also able to stay in their homes.”

There has been a similarly grim rise in the number of kids who are growing up in poverty. New figures show that across Merseyside and Cheshire, there are now more than 111,000 children growing up in relative low-income households. The full figure shows that 111,793 children under 16 are now living in poverty across the wider region, up from 107,759 last year. The child poverty rate has jumped from 22.3% to 24.8%, widening the gap with the rest of England and remaining above the national average. The data also highlights a worrying rise in in-work poverty. Now, 64% of children in low-income households are from working families, up from 60% the previous year. Meanwhile, 17,600 households across Cheshire and Merseyside are affected by the two-child benefit cap, deepening hardship for many larger families. The government has so far resisted calls to remove the cap, brought in as a policy by the Conservatives.

Lone-parent households and Black and ethnic minority communities continue to experience some of the highest rates of child poverty in the region. Child poverty negatively affects nearly every part of a child’s life, including infant mortality, school readiness, educational attainment, mental health, and long-term wellbeing. It also impacts productivity and damages future prospects for entire communities. Regional leaders from public health, the NHS, children’s services and the voluntary sector, all working together through the Champs Public Health Collaborative, say the rising figures highlight the urgent need for coordinated action at every level. This week, leaders welcomed Clare Brookes, the new Head of the Child Poverty Unit, and members of her team to Cheshire and Merseyside to see the local response in action.

The Government’s Child Poverty Unit, established in July 2024, is tasked with coordinating a national response to child poverty by bringing together expertise from across departments. They are working to support the Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce to deliver the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy in Autumn. During the visit, the Child Poverty Unit met families in Sefton to hear first-hand about the challenges they face and saw examples of how partners across Cheshire and Merseyside are working together through integrated local action to tackle child poverty.

Professor Matthew Ashton, Director of Public Health for Liverpool and Co-Chair of Cheshire and Merseyside’s All Together Fairer Board, said: “Child poverty is rising fast across our region and many of those affected are in working families. This isn’t a future crisis, it’s happening now. Across Cheshire and Merseyside, we’re working together to make a difference locally, but we know we can go further, faster with the right national support. We welcome the Government’s engagement and look forward to working together to ensure every child has the best start in life.”

Dave Bradburn, Director of Public Health for Wirral and the Champs Public Health Collaborative’s Lead for Children and Young People, said: “Unfortunately we are aware that in each of the nine boroughs in Cheshire and Merseyside, children are living in poverty which will have a devastating impact on their lives. However, we also know that in each of these areas, great work is happening in our public and voluntary sectors to support these families, and I have been delighted to share some examples of the fantastic work taking place across Cheshire and Merseyside with the Child Poverty Unit during their visit.”