COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (087) issued by The Government News Network
on 8 April 2008
A new ambition for
all hostels to provide access to support, training and employment
within the next three years to help end persistent rough sleeping,
was announced today by Housing Minister Iain Wright. The Minister
published an action plan to reduce rough sleeping to as close to
zero as possible, with new measures to help those who have
remained entrenched on the streets.
He announced a new aspiration for hostels to provide access to
training and employment opportunities, supported by the £160
million the Government has put in place to refurbish hostels and
improve their services by 2011. The Minister invited stakeholders
involved in rough sleeping to join in the discussion on a package
of measures to underpin the strategy, including:
* A renewed drive to identify and engage with the most persistent
rough sleepers to get them off the streets and into a more stable
environment, minimising the risk of falling back into old routines
and old patterns of dependency. Groups such as older drinkers have
historically been harder to reach and new models may be needed to
get them in off the streets, such as personalised support.
* Universal access to skills programmes in hostels to develop an
individual's talents and boost their confidence in stepping
up and out of insecurity and dependency. The Government's
£160 million investment in projects to reduce rough sleeping also
includes an academy in London, which will provide former rough
sleepers with opportunities to develop skills in areas of
employment as diverse as restaurant management to cookery skills.
* A new London homeless taskforce, bringing together the
Government, the voluntary sector and local authorities to better
tackle rough sleeping. These key players will help to put the
right solutions in place for people with complex needs, preventing
them slipping through the net and back onto the streets. It will
have a pan-London focus to effectively tackle rough sleeping
across the capital.
* The provision of 500 units of private rented accommodation in
London to enable those who are ready to move out of hostels, but
still need some level of support, to live independently. This will
free up hostel spaces for those coming in from the cold and help
prevent hostels 'silting up' with those who are ready to
make the next step.
* Increased working across government to ensure the one stop
shops can provide tangible, practical support across a range of
homeless issues. As well as providing skills the hostels will
provide specific support for those in need, for example making
sure that those with dependencies such as drugs or alcohol have
access to the services they need.
Whilst huge progress has been made reducing the number of rough
sleepers from 1,800 in 1997 to around 500 on any given night, the
challenge now is help the remaining persistent rough sleepers make
a permanent move away from the streets, especially in London. Some
have been in a 'revolving door of homelessness'
entering hostels dozens of times a year but coming back onto the
streets only days later.
Iain Wright said:
"Over the last ten years, we've seen major reductions
in the number of rough sleepers. But we can do more to drive this
figure down further. Our ambition should be to get rough sleeping
down to as close to zero as possible. We need to change all
hostels from simply beds for the night into springboards of
opportunity, places where an individual can learn skills that will
help them back into a stable home and a stable working life."
Many hostels are already operating successful training schemes
ranging from cookery and mechanical repairs, to IT and decorating,
which are helping rough sleepers away from the streets. But the
Government wants to see these kind of services more widely available.
The Government's "Places of Change" programme will
develop hostels from simply a roof over one's head to places
where people can achieve real and lasting change. These modern
'one stop shops' have little in common with the
'homeless hostels' of old; as well as beds they will
provide support for the needs of all homeless groups, from those
who may have dependencies such as alcohol or drugs to women
fleeing domestic violence.
Notes to Editors
1. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Social Exclusion
Unit report into rough sleeping, which set out the
government's original strategy to reduce rough sleeping by at
least two thirds.
2. The discussion paper can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/roughsleepingdiscussion.
The minister called for local authorities, the voluntary sector
and others involved in dealing with rough sleepers to come forward
and contribute to the discussion paper that will form the basis of
the updated strategy.
3. The 'Places of Change' funding allocations were
announced in March 2008 after a round of bidding.
4. The Places of Change Programme (PCP) is a 3 year programme
which will run from 2008 to 2011. It builds on the success of the
2005-08 Hostels Capital Improvement Programme (HCIP). PCP aims to
continue to improve the services available to rough sleepers so
they can make the transition from the street to a settled home; to
increase the number of people moving on from their hostel or
homelessness service in a positive way; and to increase the number
moving into education and employment. For more information please
see http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/placeschange
News Releases: http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsroom