More Cuts Will Increase Homelessness Say Charities

Services to help the homelessness are gearing up for more cuts to local authority budgets and predict a surge in the number of rough sleepers and more pressure on overstretched NHS and social care services.

According to a report in The Guardian, councils across the UK are preparing to close housing support services, refuges and sheltered housing, as they struggle to meet the demands of a fresh round of multimillion-pound budget cuts from April.

In Sunderland, for example, the housing support budget for homeless people is being cut to zero. The Salvation Army, which runs a local hostel, said the council faced hard decisions. “They have closed libraries and children’s centres and they are now having to look at cutting support to the most vulnerable people.”

Sunderland council said in a statement: “Because of budget cuts and the government’s austerity programme, the council is reviewing and remodelling many services.”

Housing support includes services aimed at helping people at risk of homelessness – such as ex-offenders, people who are mentally ill, substance users, or those with learning disabilities – stay in stable accommodation, as well as the provision of hostel beds and homelessness outreach initiatives.

In Norfolk, £5m worth of cuts to housing support services – around 55% – proposed by Norfolk county council from April would drive up homelessness in Norwich, which is already reporting record numbers of people sleeping rough on the streets.

Derek Player, the general manager of St Martins Housing Trust, a homelessness charity in Norwich, said the county council’s proposals would increase homelessness and divert more people into high-cost social care and NHS services.

He said: “I have every sympathy with councils who are charged with really difficult choices. But the services they are proposing to cut are the services that divert people away from expensive forms of social care. We are easy targets, but we should be invested in, not disinvested from.”

Alan Waters, the leader of Norwich city council, said the city faced a “perfect storm” of shrinking council budgets, welfare cuts and rising rents. Spending on housing support in Norfolk had halved since 2010, and Norwich anticipates a 30% increase in demand for homelessness services.

Bill Borrett, the chair of Norfolk county council’s adult social care committee, said the council would continue to protect the most vulnerable residents. “We are clear that our priorities are preventing people from getting to the point of crisis and helping those most in need.”

Local authorities across the UK are putting the final touches to budgets for 2017-18, which will bring in another round of cuts. They follow £20bn savings made between 2010 and 2015, a 40% real-terms reduction to their core government grant, according to the Local Government Association.

However, a government spokesperson said: “This government is committed to supporting the most vulnerable in our society. That’s why we’ve given councils almost £200bn to spend over the lifetime of this parliament, so they can deliver services that local people need and ensure our country works for everyone.

“We’ve also announced an extra £900m for social care in England, meaning councils will have a total of £7.6bn to spend over four years. Our £550m investment to tackle homelessness includes specific funding for those areas facing the greatest pressures.”