Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to
reduce homelessness.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on
the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare my interests as a
vice-president of the Local Government Association.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing,
Communities and Local Government () (Con)
My Lords, the Government are committed to reducing homelessness
and rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That
is why this Government aim to end the blight of rough sleeping by
the end of this Parliament and will continue to fully implement
the Homelessness Reduction Act. The Government recently announced
a further £422 million in funding to tackle homelessness and
rough sleeping in 2020-21, an increase of £54 million on 2019-20.
My Lords, I thank the noble Viscount for that Answer. Could he
set out for the House why homelessness has increased so
dramatically in the last 10 years, particularly—shockingly—with
726 people losing their lives in 2018?
I am very aware of the deaths related to rough sleeping in
particular, rather than homelessness. It is a highly complex
area, but the Government’s ambitions are set out in our
manifesto. Ministers and officials from across the Government are
working closely together to scale up our successful programmes,
such as the rough sleepers initiative, and devise new
interventions to meet the manifesto commitments. The 83 areas
supported by our rough sleepers initiative showed an overall
decrease of 19%. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
(LD)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that evictions from the private
rented sector and the freeze in the local housing allowance in
2016 caused real damage? The end of that freeze is welcome, but
the harsh reality is that a 1.7% increase falls woefully short of
the 15% increase in rents in the past seven years. An extra £10 a
month will not make up the current shortfall of £113. Does he
agree that failure to address this specific point will lead to
more homelessness?
The noble Baroness focuses on one point, but she will know that
there are many sad reasons why people end up homeless. We have
delivered our commitment to end the benefit freeze, and the
majority of people in receipt of housing support will see their
support increase as a result. We are also bringing forward the
renters’ reform Bill, which will look at abolishing no-fault
evictions. There is action on the way.
(Con)
My Lords, the Government have a large number of initiatives with
money behind them to deal with the problem of rough sleepers,
including the rough sleepers initiative, the rough sleepers
strategy and the reconnection scheme. As I understand it, all
these schemes are designed to help outreach workers communicate
with rough sleepers so that they can access the help they
require. However, is there any real evidence on the streets in
London that these initiatives, although there is a lot of money
in them, are having an effect on the ground?
My noble friend makes a good point that these are highly complex
issues which can take time to work through. That is why we have
all these initiatives. The rough sleepers strategy is set around
three core pillars: preventing rough sleeping before it happens,
intervening at crisis points, and helping people to recover with
flexible support that meets their needs. We are working ever more
closely with the Department of Health and Social Care on these
important issues, because a lot of them are health-related,
including drug misuse.
(Lab)
My Lords, the noble Viscount has come nowhere near to answering
the question posed by my noble friend Lord Kennedy. Could he tell
us why the position on people sleeping rough in this country has
got so palpably worse in the last decade? What measures did the
Government take or fail to take during that period which now need
to be reversed if any progress is to be made?
I hope I have set out to the House the actions that we are
taking. There are a variety of reasons why people sleep rough. We
know what they are and we need to address them one by one; there
is no one simple solution to this. For example, some people
become homeless as a result of friends or family no longer being
willing or able to accommodate them. There are domestic rows and
the termination of assured short-term tenancies. There are lots
of reasons, but the main point is that action is being taken to
address all these complex problems.
(Con)
My Lords, can my noble friend comment on the number of ex-service
personnel who now find themselves homeless, whose numbers are
thought to be particularly troubling?
I do not have the figures for ex-service personnel but I know
that there are some. I will write to my noble friend with the
figures, if we have them.
(Con)
My Lords, further to my noble friend Lord Lamont’s question, will
the Government review the Vagrancy Act 1824? It has the
unfortunate consequence of criminalising rough sleepers, by
bringing them before the courts. This isolates them from the
support that the Government are funding through housing and
employment. As it approaches its bicentenary, should this Act not
be repealed?
My noble friend is right that the Act is antiquated—perhaps a bit
of an understatement. I understand that it was originally brought
in to make it easier to clear the streets of destitute soldiers
after the Napoleonic wars. On the point that he raises, however,
the Government believe that a review of the Act rather than
immediate wholesale repeal is the right course of action, to
ensure that the consequences of a repeal are fully understood.
(LD)
My Lords, a number of homeless people are very young, under the
age of 21. I could find no figures that exist for their exact
numbers, but what is being done to monitor this, because local
authorities have powers to help young people who sleep rough on
the street? I have seen significant evidence of this, but who is
monitoring it and ensuring that local authorities take their
responsibilities to help these young people off the streets
seriously?
The noble Baroness makes a good point because one of our
initiatives is to have so-called rough sleeping navigators. They
are on the street and get to know who is there—including their
age, as some of them can be very young—to do something about it.
As I said earlier, often the link needs to be made to other
departments such as the Department for Education or,
particularly, the Department of Health and Social Care.
