MPs Slam Local Councils Over Homelessness

A report by the Communities And Local Government Select Committee says that homeless people are too often “badly treated” by councils and they should have a legal duty to give meaningful support.

Homelessness is increasing, with a shortage of social housing and the prohibitive cost of renting in the private sector to blame. However, councils said they needed more money and powers, saying they “cannot tackle this challenge alone”.

The report urges the government to support the Homeless Reduction Bill proposed by the Conservative MP Bob Blackman in June – to impose tougher conditions on councils and force them to offer emergency accommodation for up to two months.

Official figures published by the government show that local authorities approved 14,780 households’ applications for homelessness assistance between 1 January and 30 March 2016. This was up 9% on the same quarter in 2015. However, the report warned that the statistics did not capture the full scale of homelessness, for example many “hidden homeless” who may be staying with friends or not have sought help.

MPs said the committee received “too much evidence of councils and their staff treating homeless people in ways that are dismissive and at times discriminatory.” The report said it was “not acceptable” that the level of support offered to vulnerable people who did seek help varied significantly across the country. The scale of the problem called for a new action plan across multiple government departments – one that should see ministers monitor councils and identify those failing to provide good advice.

Committee chairman Clive Betts said: “The committee recognises they face a significant task with funding pressures and legal obligations, but vulnerable people are too often badly treated, being made to feel like they are at fault, and offered ineffectual and meaningless advice.”

“No-one should be homeless in Britain today,” he added “but the reality is that more and more people find themselves on the streets, in night shelters or going from sofa to sofa to keep a roof over their heads.” The Labour MP acknowledged that councils faced significant funding pressures and legal obligations, but said he believed vulnerable people were “too often badly treated”.

However, Nick Forbes, a vice-chairman at the Local Government Association, said: “Local government can succeed in reducing homelessness if given the funding and powers to bring together local housing, health, justice, and employment partners, to address the gaps between household incomes and spiraling rents, and to resume their historic role as a major builder of affordable homes.”

“It needs to not only help those who are homeless but also prevent those vulnerable families and individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless from joining them.”

Councils in England have a duty to secure accommodation for “unintentionally homeless households” who fall into a “priority need” category, according to the government. There is, however, no duty on councils to secure accommodation for all homeless people.

A government spokesman said it was “considering how to improve services”, including for mental health. The level of “statutory homelessness” – a term used to describe people who are prioritised for assistance by local authorities – were less than half what it was in 2003-04, the spokesman added.

Other findings in the report include:

• Further resources should be allocated to expand help for victims of domestic abuse.
• Welfare reforms have increased pressure on levels of homelessness.
• Recipients of housing benefit should get the option of having their money paid directly to their landlord to avoid getting into arrears.

To support the Homeless Reduction Bill, Crisis have launched a campaign – ‘No One Turned Away’ – calling for every homeless person who approaches their council to get the help they need. Homeless people can be turned away with little or no help by councils as they are not considered a ‘priority’, even though they have nowhere else to stay.

The Homelessness Reduction Bill will improve the support that homeless people receive. It’s great news but there’s a still a lot to do before this becomes law. Crisis need your help to get 100 MPs to the debate in parliament to back this vital change.

You can support the campaign by emailing your MP – go to www.crisis.org.uk  for more details.