Housing Monthly Diary Archive

Homelessness

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January 1998
Ombudsman: Delays in Housing Homeless Family

A family arrived in Britain as refugees in 1991. They presented themselves to Westminster City Council as homeless in 1994.

In their complaint to the Ombudsman, they alleged that Westminster City Council provided unsuitable temporary accommodation and delayed in securing permanent accommodation for them.

Their complaint also alleged that Waltham Forest LBC delayed in accepting its duty under Part III of the Housing Act 1985 to secure accommodation for them.

Findings:

• The Ombudsman found that the family had a statutory right to be housed as homeless, but were left living in a single room in bed and breakfast accommodation for over two years. He concluded that both Councils were at fault for the delay:

• Westminster CC referred the family to Waltham Forest LBC (where they had lived from 1991 until 1994), who refused to accept the referral. Westminster CC contributed to the delay by referring the case to a referee for arbitration under the local authority association agreement, when it was clearly outside his jurisdiction, and also by delaying in starting Court action against Waltham Forest LBC when it continued to refuse the referral.

• Waltham Forest LBC contributed to the delay by failing to refer the case properly to its legal adviser and by agreeing to refer the case to the referee.

The Ombudsman did not support an allegation that the temporary accommodation was unsuitable, but commented that "while it may be suitable and tolerable for a short time, it was not reasonable to expect a family of four, including two young children, to live in it for over two years".

Investigation No. 96/A/1907 (Westminster CC) and No. 96/A/3607 (Waltham Forest LBC).

February 1998
Rough Sleepers' Initiative Update

Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong announced a further £1.5 million funding for Rough Sleepers' Initiative (RSI) throughout England. This additional pump-priming funding for the next 12 months came on top of the £20 million already announced for strategies in 18 areas outside central London. It would support local rough sleepers' strategies in 16 new areas and fund additional hostel staff in 5 existing areas.

Local authorities in 26 areas, in liaison with other statutory agencies and the voluntary sector, submitted requests in December 1997 for funding of rough sleeping strategies. This latest round of funding was to support outreach and resettlement work in 16 of those 26 areas, with the aim of helping rough sleepers to move from life on the streets into settled accommodation.

The areas covered by the funding were Brent, Bury, Camden, Croydon, Gloucester, Great Yarmouth, Guildford, Islington, Northampton, Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Sheffield, Slough and Stoke-on-Trent.

The Government also considered new bids for funding hostel staff from voluntary organisations in some areas already funded. As a result, hostels in Bournemouth, Exeter, Ealing, Richmond and Oxford were to have additional assistance.

February 1998
Homelessness News in Brief

• Homeless International’s 1997 Hour's Pay Campaign, which was launched in October 1997, exceeded the £55,000 mark. Over 200 United Kingdom housing associations, local authorities and other organisations had taken part in the campaign so far. The money was to be used to support self-help community housing projects in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, India and South Africa.

• Lambeth LBC evicted homeless people from London's cardboard city at the Bullring in Waterloo. The site had been a popular place for homeless people since the 1970s. Some of those living on the site had been found permanent homes by the Council.

March 1998
Funding for Voluntary Organisations

Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong announced details of 205 projects nationwide to get financial assistance to help combat homelessness, mainly amongst young people.

Projects winning financial support included those which promoted business involvement in supporting homelessness organisations and regional projects aimed at developing local strategies. The projects would provide advice and direct practical support to people who were homeless or faced with losing their homes. All the projects had the support of their local authority and had been set up specifically to meet local needs.

The successful bids included accommodation registers and resettlement projects, emergency accommodation and rent/deposit guarantee schemes. The largest project funded was the National Homelessness Advice Service provided by Shelter and the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux.

All of the bids were funded under Section 180 of the Housing Act 1996, which provides for the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to make grants to voluntary sector organisations concerned with homelessness. The programme complemented funding provided through the Rough Sleepers' Initiative.

Further information: Tel. 0171 890 3333.

March 1998
Lottery Grants Announced

Awards made by the National Lottery Charities Board included more than £1 million to Shelter, which would fund new Homeless to Homes Programmes in Birmingham, Bristol and Sheffield - aimed at helping previously homeless families to settle into permanent accommodation.

Other awards for homelessness projects included:

• Centrepoint Soho: £487,500, towards expansion of its work, with offices planned for Leeds and Oxford.

• The Catholic Housing Aid Society: £200,000, towards its work in preventing homelessness among low income home owners.

• CHAS: £200,000 approx, to develop preventative initiatives concerned with people living in shared ownership and at risk of repossession.

• Riverpoint: £250,000, to help with the cost of building a day centre in West London for homeless people.

• Cambridge Wintercomfort: £400,000, towards the cost of setting up a permanent shelter for rough sleepers.

March 1998
Homelessness News in Brief

• Self-help groups helping homeless and socially excluded people learned that they might be eligible for grants of up to £500 from a new scheme launched by the National Homeless Alliance's Groundswell Project.

• An emergency shelter in London's West End was to be upgraded by homeless charity Centrepoint, with the aid of a grant of £1 million from the Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

• In an address at the National Homelessness Alliance Conference, Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong put paid to any hopes of early action to reverse the last Administration's homelessness legislation. Given the demands on Parliamentary time, the Minister could not foresee new homelessness legislation being introduced for at least 18 months.

March 1998
Ombudsman: Accommodation Unsuitable for Wheelchair

The Ombudsman issued a report recommending that Barnet LBC should pay compensation of £1,500 for failures in the way that it dealt with a couple's rehousing needs.

His report found that the Council failed to take account of the individual needs of a disabled woman when it allocated her and her husband accommodation, following their eviction and being made homeless. The Council initially nominated the couple to a housing association home, which did not provide adequate mobility for the woman.

The Council was made aware of the woman's need to sometimes use a wheelchair but there were further delays in suitably rehousing them.

Investigation No. 95/A/2575 (Barnet LBC).

March 1998
Ombudsman: Council Caused Avoidable Distress

The Ombudsman found that Westminster CC failed to deal properly with the housing application of a homeless man, with a history of mental health problems, and his partner.

The Council accepted a duty to rehouse the couple but nominated them to accommodation that was unsuitable. When they refused this accommodation, the Council decided that it had discharged its duty to them.

In October 1996, the Council admitted that it had been at fault and apologised. The Council had no suitable accommodation available until December 1996, so its failure had not caused the couple to be deprived of suitable accommodation. However, the Ombudsman considered that the couple had been caused much avoidable distress and trouble and, in the circumstances, the man was particularly vulnerable because of his medical condition. He recommended that the Council should pay £1,000 compensation.

Investigation No. 97/A/011 (Westminster CC).

April 1998
RSI Update

• An early day motion signed by Labour MPs called for the Rough Sleepers' Initiative (RSI) to be extended to Wales, with funding available in proportion to that given to England and Scotland. Section 180 grants were available to Welsh local authorities to tackle street homelessness, but councils must contribute 25% of the cost of any scheme. Emergency accommodation provision was sparse, with only about 30 direct access beds available in an area covering the whole of North Wales and the Welsh Valleys.

• A head count identified a decrease over the past 5 months in the number of rough sleepers on the streets of Central London. The count (4 April 1998), carried out by the homelessness charity The Simon Community, found 1,654 people sleeping rough. This compared with 1,748 at the start of November 1997.

• A report from the Housing Service Agency estimated that an additional 5 people become rough sleepers in London each night. It expressed concern over the number of new properties currently being developed for rough sleepers and called for funding for permanent accommodation for an extra 500 people in London each year.

• A head count found that there were between 20 and 70 people sleeping out rough on any one night in Cornwall. The count was carried out by the Cornwall Rough Sleepers' Initiative Forum, with the help of some 100 volunteers.

April 1998
Homelessness News in Brief

• The Scottish Homelessness Advisory Service was awarded a grant of £400,000 by Scottish Homes, to meet its costs over the next three years and to facilitate expansion of services across Scotland.

• Centrepoint launched an interactive game - Virtual Homelessness - as part of its new web site address on www.centrepoint.org.uk. The game introduces homelessness through role play as players find the best routes to safe living.

• A new report from the Faith in Leeds project found that young people in Leeds would prefer to live on the streets than stay in hostels, which they perceived as physically unsafe or emotionally distressing.

Challenge and Opportunity: Faith in Leeds, 53 Cardigan Lane, Leeds, LS4 2LE: £1.

• Edinburgh Furniture Initiative merged with Edinburgh Council for the Single Homeless, with the new organisation retaining the latter's name.

May 1998
News in Brief

• A pilot study developed by consultants Arthur Andersen and Waltham Forest LBC was piloted in twelve London boroughs and one district council, aimed at developing benchmarks for their homelessness administration services. The study compared costs and resources amongst the participating councils in their reception, advice, prevention, assessment and accommodation activities.

In addition to Waltham Forest LBC, councils taking part were Brent LBC, Croydon LBC, Hackney LBC, Hillingdon LBC, Hounslow LBC, Islington LBC, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames, Lambeth LBC, Newham LBC, Tower Hamlets LBC and Canterbury DC.

• The new Liberal Democrat administration at Liverpool MDC expressed deep concern at Westminster LBC's plans to house 118 asylum-seekers in a hostel in the Toxteth area of the city. Whilst Westminster had responsibility for housing the refugees, Liverpool councillors expressed concerns at the cost of providing other services, including health provision. Westminster has already embarked on similar arrangements in Great Yarmouth, Southsea and Lancing. Westminster, along with a number of other key London councils, were faced with dealing with the problems presented by the growing number of refugees seeking housing in the capital.

• Speaking at a seminar, the director of Shelter, Chris Holmes, claimed that London's direct-access hostels were in crisis and could not meet demand from homeless people. He told delegates that there were no vacancies for those seeking emergency accommodation amongst the nearly 3,000 beds available in the Capital by 11 am and that during March there were, on average, only three vacancies available for men and seven for women at any single time. During the month, the overall occupancy rate was 99.7%. Looking at solutions, Mr Holmes called for more help for residents to move on, rather than concentrating on providing more bed spaces.

• A new report from Bristol Cyrenians revealed that homeless young people could gain confidence and develop a range of professional skills on educating others about the risks of leaving home. The project, Homefront Initiative, was funded by Allied Domecq and involved an education campaign in schools and youth clubs in the Bristol area, which highlighted the importance of leaving home in a planned manner. The report included advice for others wishing to set up similar projects and copies can be obtained from Bristol Cyrenians: Tel. 0117 904 2342: £4.

June 1998
Homeless News in Brief

• Research showed that ex-servicemen represent 22% of London's rough sleepers population, prompting the Ministry of Defence to consider launching a special helpline to offer advice and assistance.

• Shelter Cymru reported a rise of 27% in the number of people using its services in the year ending March 1998 compared with the previous twelve month period. The Agency's newly introduced community advice services accounted for some of the increase, but overall demand for services had also risen.

• Local research from Cumbria claimed that tourism was a significant factor in the homelessness equation, as it limits available emergency accommodation and affects the level of rough sleeping in the area.

• A petition, circulated by the charity Homeless International at the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference, called on the Government to include a strategy to address the housing needs of the World's poorest communities in Britain's overseas aid policy.

• Homeless International launched its 1998 Hour's Pay Campaign - which will take place on World Habitat Day (5 October). In the 1998 year the campaign supported a range of projects, including Bombay street children's night shelter. For further details - Tel. 01203 632802.

• Shaks Ghosh, Chief Executive at the homelessness charity Crisis, called on the Government to consider imposing a levy on housing associations, which she argued would ensure that they took some responsibility for single homelessness and rough sleeping. Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference, she also revealed findings of recent research by Crisis and Shelter, which suggested that three-quarters of all local authorities did not have a strategy for rough sleeping or single homelessness and the same proportion did not express any interest in having one.

• The latest homelessness figures showed a reverse in the recent downward trend, with 27,170 people being accepted as homeless by councils during the first quarter of 1998, which represented a 9% rise on the previous three-month period.

July 1998
Reforms to End Rough Sleeping

The Social Exclusion Unit released its second report aimed at tackling what was described by Prime Minister Tony Blair as symbols of a divided society. The report highlighted the Government's objectives of cutting rough sleeping by two-thirds by the year 2002, with a radical package of measures:

• Rough Sleepers' Initiative funding in London is increased from £105 million to £145 million, with the money channelled through Section 180 of the Housing Act 1996, which provides for government funding of homelessness groups.

• Outside London, councils have to appoint a contact person to co-ordinate the work of agencies in combating street homelessness.

• Additional money is available from the government for a mentoring scheme for homeless people, providing that the voluntary sector is able to produce a workable plan.

• A new body, headed by a Streets Tsar and to be set up by March 1999, is charged with co- ordinating efforts in dealing with rough sleeping. It was anticipated that some local authorities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Cambridge, Manchester and Oxford, would appoint their own Tsars with enhanced Section 180 funding.

• Local housing departments would be encouraged to make greater efforts in finding homes for those leaving care, to create strong contacts with homelessness groups and to introduce tenancy support and rent deposit schemes.

• The armed forces would be charged with introducing initiatives aimed at preventing former members from becoming homeless. Similarly, the Prisons Service would be asked to look at ways of preventing homelessness amongst former inmates.

• The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions would have a co-ordinating role for rough sleeping, ensuring multi-agency and government departmental initiatives across housing, health and employment.

The report attracted some criticism. Whilst £145 million is available between 1999 and 2002 to dramatically cut rough sleeping in the Capital, only £32 million is available during the same period for tackling rough sleeping in the English regions outside of London. This equates to less than £11 million per year, which in real terms is a cut on the £17 million received by homeless organisations outside London last year.

July 1998
Reforms in Support for Asylum Seekers

The Government issued a White Paper, which introduced radical changes in the way that help was to be offered to asylum seekers. It also aimed to relieve the few councils, mainly in London, who carried the intolerable burden of dealing with housing and support of those seeking asylum in the country.

The main change would be an amendment to the National Assistance Act 1948, under which local authorities were charged with providing care and accommodation for destitute asylum seekers. Instead, a new Home Office agency would be set up and charged with contracting accommodation from landlords in the social housing sector in all areas of the country. The proposals illustrated the Government's fundamental change in thinking, with the intention of giving support in kind to asylum seekers, rather than cash payments. Under the proposals, asylum seekers would be offered accommodation on a no choice basis.

July 1998
Homelessness News in Brief

• The first meeting was held of the new Youth Homelessness Action Partnership, which brought together senior representatives from government departments, local authorities and the voluntary sector, with a wide brief to tackle youth homelessness. Its early tasks were to assess the extent of homelessness affecting young people and to identify successful strategies for tackling problems.

• Homeless International launched its new web site, providing current information on self-help community housing initiatives. It can be accessed at: http:/www.oneworld.org.

• The English Churches Housing Group project - Counted In - and the housing and support organisation - Creative Supportive Services - found, in a survey of Manchester streets, 45 people sleeping rough. A further 35 sites used regularly by people sleeping out rough are also identified.

• The first anniversary of the National Homeless Alliance was marked by the announcement of plans for a national council, which is to oversee the organisation's management and development. A ballot of members is to elect the council, with a minimum of one representative from each of the regions.

August 1998
RSI Update

• The Government issued details of minor adjustments to the Budget to tackle rough sleeping over the next 3 years. The amount allocated to tackle rough sleeping in England outside London is now £34 million, some £2 million more than announced in July. However, the amount to deal with rough sleeping in London was reduced by £2 million to £143 million.

• The Scottish Office announced expenditure totalling £3 million for the second round of the Rough Sleepers' Initiative (RSI) in Scotland:

• Glasgow City Council was the largest recipient of the 13 councils to benefit, with a total of £670,000 which is to be spent on accommodation provided by the City's Archdiocese.

• Dundee Council was also a major recipient, with £600,000 being made available towards the cost of a reception centre and supported direct access accommodation, to be managed by Dundee Cyrenians homelessness charity.

• Four projects in Edinburgh benefited from cash injections totalling £300,000.

August 1998
News in Brief

• The Big Step (The Big Issue in the North's charity) received a grant of £60,000 from the European Union, to develop best practice solutions to homelessness. The grant was swelled by matching funds from the Charity's own funds, as well as additional finance from Manchester Council, Irwell Valley HA and English Churches HA.

• Three charities - Help the Aged, the Housing Associations Charitable Trust and Crisis - joined forces to make £660,000 available to help elderly homeless people who are rough sleeping. The money was targeted at people over the age of 50 years, who make up some 30% of those sleeping rough.

• A pilot project was launched by Focus Housing Group, aimed at preventing homeless older men from becoming institutionalised in Birmingham hostels. The new tenancy support project helps to find homes for around 40 men, either living on their own or with friends.

• A new report from the charity Centrepoint gave advice on how to provide accommodation in rural areas where there is no hostel provision. One Step Closer To Home: Centrepoint, Bewlay House, 2 Swallow Place, London, W1R 7AA: £7.50.

August 1998
Ombudsman: Transfer Delay Leaves Man Living in Fear

The complainant applied for a transfer because he was experiencing violent harassment and had suffered serious injuries. He expressed a wish to move anywhere away from his current area. He was separated from his wife, but had access to his daughter and he required a room for her. He complained that:

• the Chester CC’s allocations system restricted his choice of areas - it had no classification for people who wished to be rehoused anywhere;

• the Council only considered him for three areas, effectively ignoring his main preference;

• he was not advised about the areas in which he might be rehoused in most quickly;

• proper consideration was not given to his medical points, or to information supplied by a doctor and a hospital; and

• the Council did not interview him about his transfer request.

The Ombudsman concluded that:

• the complainant could have been rehoused some five years earlier than he was;

• during that time, he lived in fear, his health suffered and it was impossible for him to
  maintain contact with his daughter.

The Ombudsman’s report recommended that the Council:

• pay the complainant £2,500 for the delay in rehousing him plus £500 for his time and trouble; and

• reviews its transfer/allocations policy, with the aim of ensuring that proper allowance is made for harassment and other special cases, that there is proper provision for considering medical points and that it responds properly to complaints.

Investigation No. 96/C/3071 (Chester CC).

September 1998
News in Brief

• Shelter's Director, Chris Holmes, suggested that charities that make street life bearable, by providing various benefits from hand-outs to soup runs, have contributed to a street culture and to the growth of social exclusion. In his speech at a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference, he went on to argue that efforts need to be concentrated at getting people off the streets - rather than helping them to live on the streets.

• Centrepoint launched 5 regional projects to tackle youth homelessness outside London. Project teams in Berkshire, Brighton and Hove, County Durham, Cumbria and Lancashire are to liaise with local councils, housing associations and voluntary organisations to develop and implement strategies to improve services for young homeless people.

October 1998
Homelessness in Brief - Wales

• Welsh Housing Minister, Jon Owen Jones, opened Lodge House, which provides overnight accommodation and breakfast for 12 homeless people on a year-round basis in Swansea. It also has a cafe open in the evenings, and provides support to help homeless people re-settle in the community.

• The Welsh Office announced that Paul Bevan, currently working with Newport Action for the Single Homeless (NASH), is seconded to the Welsh Office for 12 months to help local authorities develop strategies to tackle street homelessness. The secondment started in October, with the aim of gathering information for the Welsh Office and National Assembly, as well as local authorities, on the incidence of rough sleeping in Wales and its causes. The overall brief included advising on effective strategies for helping rough sleepers, that respond to the Welsh Office's objective of eliminating the need for anyone in Wales to sleep rough.

October 1998
Ombudsman: Series of Flawed Procedures

The Ombudsman highlighted a number of issues in his report on a complaint against Harborough DC.

Firstly, the complainant presented himself as homeless in June 1996 and was immediately housed in a Council hostel while investigations were carried out. Those investigations ended by early August that year, but no decision was given to the man on whether the Council had a duty to house him, which the Ombudsman concluded was a breach of the Council's statutory duty and was maladministration.

The Council served a Notice requiring the man to quit the hostel within 7 days for having friends staying in his room. He should have been given a written warning of this first and been given an opportunity to refute the evidence against him and/or alter his behaviour. Failure to follow these procedures was also maladministration.

The decision to evict him was made in the absence of a decision as to whether the Council retained any duty to house him, and it was flawed by maladministration. On receiving the Notice, the man returned to his parents and no assessment was made by the Council on whether that discharged it of responsibility to him, which was also maladministration.

The Ombudsman's report concluded that, as a consequence of the Council's maladministration, the man lived in unsuitable housing for perhaps 18 months longer than he needed to have done. The Council should pay him £1,750 in compensation and offer him suitable accommodation as soon as possible.

Investigation No. 97/B/4670 (Harborough DC).

November 1998
Rough Sleepers Update

• The Government launched its Winter Shelter Programme, helping voluntary organisations in London, Bristol, Cambridge and Brighton this winter to provide more than 500 beds, backed by advice and care, during the coldest months. This £4 million programme of extra help for rough sleepers was supported by a £200,000 Department of Health programme to assist rough sleepers who also have mental health problems.

The Winter Shelter Programme was part of the Government's overall drive to reduce the number of people sleeping rough on the streets by two-thirds by 2002. As part of the ongoing efforts to tackle and prevent rough sleeping throughout the year across England, the Government is:

providing £34 million to voluntary organisations outside London over three years from April 1999 under the new Homelessness Action Programme, with the aim of taking forward progress already made under the Rough Sleepers' Initiative;

setting up a special unit, attached to the DETR, to tackle London's rough sleeping. The unit under a newly-recruited head is, from April, co-ordinating government action in managing an integrated budget of £145 million over three years.

The Winter Shelter Programme ran from late November to the end of March 1999, offering free accommodation, food and a range of other supports and resettlement services to people who would otherwise sleep rough. This year the Programme funded voluntary organisations, subject to planning permission, to provide more than 470 beds in London and over 70 beds in Bristol, Cambridge and Brighton. A further 88 emergency beds were available in London, Bristol and Brighton if the weather became particularly severe.

These temporary winter shelters were funded by DETR, as part of the £73 million Rough Sleepers' Initiative and were run by voluntary sector agencies and housing associations. This year, two empty buildings from the Government's estate were identified as suitable for use:

St George's Court, managed by the Defence Estates Agency.

2 Marsham Street, a former DETR building.

The Department of Health's funding of £200,000 was to support specialist services for people with mental health problems in the winter shelters.

• The announcement to set up a new Rough Sleeping Unit from April 1999 to tackle rough sleeping in London followed the release in July of the Social Exclusion Unit's report, which first set the target of reducing the number of people sleeping rough on the streets by two- thirds by the year 2002. The new unit is jointly funded by four Government departments.

• Outside London, the DETR is providing £34 million to voluntary organisations over 3 years from next April under the new Homelessness Action Programme. Under the programme, local authorities have a co-ordinating role, developing effective strategies for preventing single homelessness and tackling rough sleeping. They also provide a clear contact for co- ordinating work with voluntary and other agencies.

November 1998
Homeless Helpline Launched in Wales

Shelter Cymru launched Shelterline, a free housing telephone advice service to provide round-the-clock help for those facing homelessness in Wales. The service provides advice on accessing emergency accommodation, guidance, counselling and mediation. As well as dealing with problems before they become too serious, Shelterline seeks to help those who need intensive assistance and support to lead a stable life.

In welcoming the launch of Shelterline, Welsh Housing Minister Jon Owen Jones said that, if there is a need to adjust other programmes to provide more money for helping rough sleepers, then the Government will do so. The Welsh Office invited local authorities and the voluntary sector to apply for additional money for projects run by voluntary organisations to assist people sleeping rough over the winter months.

December 1998
Homelessness News in Brief

• Homelessness statistics for the third quarter of 1998 showed a further 4% national rise in the use of bed and breakfast accommodation. Responding to the increase, Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong said that pressure on the supply of temporary accommodation in London was particularly acute at the present time. The large number of asylum seekers in need of accommodation was a significant factor, but there were other forces at work.

• The number of people living in homeless hostels over the Christmas period in Wales rose, according to new statistics released by Shelter Cymru. Its survey showed that 2,339 people were homeless and in temporary accommodation in December throughout Wales, compared with 2,022 the previous Christmas. Nearly 50% of those in temporary accommodation (1,050) were in Cardiff.

• An additional £14 million was allocated to the Rough Sleepers' Initiative in Scotland by the Scottish Office, made available from unallocated funds in the Comprehensive Spending Review. The Government also requested that the Initiative's advisory group produced a report on ending street sleeping in Scotland by 2002.

December 1998
Ombudsman: Homelessness Applicant’s Possessions Lost

The Ombudsman issued a report on a complaint from an applicant that Southwark LBC had destroyed his (and his partner’s and child’s) possessions, which he valued at £5,000.

The Council had stored the possessions whilst considering the complainant’s application for housing as a person threatened with homelessness. The Council then lost contact with the complainant and decided that it had no homelessness duty to him (or his partner). The Council tried to contact the complainant and request he collects his possessions. Unfortunately, the Council lost the relevant file at the material time and it was unable to locate the address of either the complainant’s parents, or that of the partner’s parents. The Council subsequently destroyed the possessions.

The Ombudsman’s report concluded that the loss of the file at the material time was maladministration. As a result, the complainant lost the opportunity to reclaim his possessions. However, the report also noted that the complainant did not take adequate steps to keep the Council informed of his current address. Nonetheless, the Ombudsman’s report concluded that the maladministration did cause injustice and recommends that the Council pay the complainant £500 compensation.

Investigation No. 98/A/0758 (Southwark LBC).

January 1999
News in Brief

• Jon Snow of Channel 4 News agreed to chair a new umbrella organisation, which aims to unite central government, local administration and voluntary bodies in combating street homelessness in London. Recently launched by Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong, Single Homeless Action presents a structure that can be used to project a strategy that will complement government efforts towards reducing rough sleeping in the Capital.

• The Social Exclusion Unit embarked on a widespread survey, aimed at cataloguing reasons for the large 16 to 18-year-old population, estimated to be as high as 160,000, who are not in full-time education, training or employment. Key issues being addressed include the impact of homelessness and poverty. The survey is to consult views from a varied list of organisations, including local authorities and housing associations. A final report was planned for Easter1999.

• Edinburgh Council was allocated a further £75,000 from the Rough Sleepers' Initiative, bringing the total granted to the Council to tackle rough sleeping to £4.3 million.

February 1999
Funding for Homelessness Projects

Housing Minister, Hilary Armstrong, announced 254 national and local schemes run by voluntary organisations to tackle and prevent homelessness. The programme is part of the Government's efforts to tackle homelessness, by working in partnership with the voluntary sector, local authorities and others. The aim is to reduce the number of people sleeping rough on the streets by two-thirds by 2002, as well as to deal with the causes of homelessness to keep people off the streets in the first place.

The projects included in the current announcement are being funded by the Government's Homelessness Action Programme (HAP), which will provide £34 million over the next three years to tackle homelessness. The latest grants announced total £27 million, funding 156 new and 98 continuing projects. A further announcement was expected shortly, on the allocation of the remaining £7 million.

The HAP is to target help at existing rough sleepers and preventative work with single homeless people. The projects announced will be funded for up to three years, depending on good results. Further funding will be available from the Department of Health's Homeless Mentally Ill Initiative and the Drugs and Alcohol Specific Grant programme.

The projects are spread throughout England but none of them are in London, where initiatives to tackle rough sleeping will be co-ordinated by a new Unit being set up from April 1999 (see below).

Note: The HAP initiative brings together two previous programmes - the Rough Sleepers' Initiative and funding under Section 180 of the Housing Act - both of which came to an end in March 1999.

February 1999
Head of London's Rough Sleepers' Unit

Housing campaigner Louse Casey was appointed to head the new London Rough Sleepers' Unit, which has been set up to take a strategic approach to reducing the number of people sleeping on the streets in London, by linking the work of Central Government departments and agencies, local authorities, the voluntary sector and business.

Louise Casey was formerly the Deputy Director of Shelter, a post that she had held since 1992. Within Shelter she played a lead role on social exclusion issues - particularly concerning rough sleeping. Before joining Shelter, she was the Director of Homeless Network, co-ordinating services to rough sleepers in central London. She has also worked for St Mungo Association, managing the provision of direct services to single homeless men.

It is estimated that about 400 people sleep rough in London on any given night and around 2,400 people will sleep rough at some point during the year. The new Unit will have an integrated budget of £145 million over three years and it is operational from 1st April 1999.

The Unit is attached to the DETR and it covers all of the 32 London boroughs. It is directly responsible to the Ministerial Committee on Rough Sleeping, which is chaired by Housing Minister Hilary Armstrong.

Louise Casey was due to take up her new post in May.

February 1999
Revised Policy for Scottish Homes

New measures aimed at promoting a better understanding of the causes of homelessness, including research into the effect of hospital closure programmes, are outlined in a new report published by national housing agency, Scottish Homes.

Launching the Agency's new homelessness policy, its Chief Executive, Peter McKinlay, said that tackling homelessness was a key priority for the Government and it was likely to be high on the agenda of the new Scottish Parliament. The causes can, however, often be complex and action to prevent homelessness occurring is, therefore, of fundamental importance.

The Agency was to commission a study to establish if people who have been discharged from long-stay hospitals and institutions back into the community are being given the necessary housing and support services to enable them to live as independently as possible. The Agency has also undertaken joint research with Shelter to examine the reasons and the trends behind the apparent increase in the numbers of rural homeless, so that local authorities can incorporate the findings in any local strategies.

The Agency's new policy statement also highlights key areas for future action, which include:

• Developing effective partnerships with services to the homeless and those at risk.

• Undertaking wider research to examine the relationship between homelessness, poverty and unemployment.

• Further promoting housing information and advice services.

• Improving access by targeting and funding the provision of new homes for letting to the homeless.

• Provision of grants for furnished accommodation for the homeless.

• Backing new initiatives, such as the development of foyers for young homeless people.

February 1999
New Homeless Hostel in Dundee

Work started on a £1.1 million project to build a hostel for homeless people in Dundee. The development - off the City's Foundry Lane - will provide emergency accommodation for 14 people to stay overnight. A further ten small flats, offering longer-term homes, will also be provided.

The project is being carried out by Gowrie HA, with more than £770,000 in grant aid from Scottish Homes and £96,500 from Dundee CC. As well as the public subsidy, the project is attracting nearly £300,000 in private finance.

The new hostel will be run by the Dundee Survival Group and it will replace an existing Emergency Night Shelter at Lochee Road. The Group is expected to move into the new hostel in Spring 2000.

Scottish Homes, along with the Council and Tayside Health Board, have also pledged to provide further grants to help meet the ongoing running costs of the new hostel.

February 1999
Homelessness News in Brief

• Camden Council announced that it used a 100-bed outward bound centre in Carmarthen on three separate occasions in 1998 to accommodate asylum seekers. At £116 a night, the Welsh outward bound accommodation was considerably cheaper than temporary accommodation in Central London, which averages £165 per night. The Government provides £140 per night subsidy and the shortfall has to be met from the Council's own funds. It is understood that only a few asylum seekers were accommodated at the adventure centre and it is not intended to send any more there.

• Homeless International launched Trek 2000, which is the Charity's first trek that actually visits the communities that will directly benefit from any money raised. In May 2000, seventy Homeless International supporters will take part in Trek 2000 in Bolivia, to raise over £100,000 to help improve the health and housing conditions of over 45,000 people there. Trekkers will be challenged to walk up to 100 kilometres at heights of up to 5,000 metres in just 6 days. For further information: Tel. 01203 632802.

February 1999
Ombudsman: Priority on Waiting List Lost Due to Errors

The complainant, his wife and five children, live in a five-bedroomed house with his mother, and his brother and sister-in-law and their three children. Thirteen people have to share one toilet and one bathroom. The house is owned by the complainant's brother.

In his report, the Ombudsman decides that, on balance, the complainant first applied to the Council for rehousing in September 1990. He also finds that the Council did not register the complainant on the waiting list until about a year later.

In April 1992, the complainant told the Council that his brother had asked him and his family to move out of the house. The Ombudsman's report concludes that there was excessive delay in making enquiries about the complainant's homelessness and, that as a result, his application was suspended from consideration for too long.

The Council had made the complainant no offers of rehousing by June 1997. This, the Ombudsman concludes was not as a consequence of maladministration but, rather, because of the shortage of housing suitable for the family and the higher priority of other applicants.

The Council deleted the complainant from its homelessness list in June 1997, claiming that this was because he had not replied to a standard letter sent to all applicants threatened with homelessness. However, the complainant denies ever receiving such a letter and the Council has no copy of such a letter to the complainant, nor can it produce a copy of the standard letter.

The Ombudsman finds that:

• the Council's delay in registering the complainant on the waiting list was maladministration; and

• the Council's decision to cease to regard the complainant as homeless was unreasonable and amounts to maladministration.

He finds that this caused the complainant injustice because he lost the priority for rehousing, which he had been accruing as a homeless applicant since May 1992.

The Ombudsman recommends that the Council should:

• pay the complainant £500 for the uncertainty he has suffered and his time and trouble in pursuing his complaint; and audit the housing it has allocated since June 1997, to see if any which would have been suitable for the complainant's family has been allocated to applicants in less need, or with lower priority. If the audit shows that the complainant should have been offered any of those properties, he should be offered the next suitable property which becomes available in his areas of choice.

Investigation No. 97/A/3659 (Lambeth LBC)

March 1999
Assistance for Welsh Rough Sleepers

The Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Michael, announced an additional £250,000 to boost work to help people who are sleeping rough in Wales during the coming year. He also announced grants of almost £78,000 this year to help voluntary organisations working with homeless people over the winter period. The £78,000 goes to voluntary organisations across Wales, who submitted bids to the Welsh Office for grant money, with the backing of local authorities.

The main criteria for approval were that the projects should demonstrate a commitment to eliminating the need for rough sleeping, form part of strategy for tackling the whole problem, involve other agencies and make the most cost-effective use of resources.

The grants include £26,334 to Cardiff to provide direct services to the street homeless, £15,615 to determine the level and type of unmet need of rough sleepers in Bridgend and £4,500 for Denbighshire to allow a shelter in Rhyl to remain open for longer hours during the winter.

March 1999
Homelessness News In Brief

• The charity Homeless International is hoping to attract 30 teams of 4 people to take part in mental and physical problem-solving exercises, in a competition to be held in the Lake District. The entry fee will be £1,000 per team and further details can be obtained from John Walton at Homeless International: Tel. 01203 632802.

• Crisis publishes a new digest of the latest statistics and research about single homelessness. Homelessness Factfile 1998/99: Crisis: Challenger House, 42 Adler Street, London E1 1EE: £6.50.

• The Salvation Army in Bristol has introduced a programme to make outreach workers available to assist prisoners about to be released - offering advice and assistance on how to avoid homelessness.

• The Bristol rough sleepers' initiative sets a target of reducing the number of people sleeping rough on the streets in Bristol to under 10 by 2002. The consortium, led by Bristol Council, has already cut rough sleeping by 50%.

• New research findings could help prevent young people becoming homeless, with the publication of the Index of Homelessness Risk by Safe in the City, which has developed a method for identifying young people who are likely to become homeless.

• Thirteen housing groups, including Shelter Cymru and the Big Issue Cymru, form Rough Sleepers Cymru, to lobby for increased resources to tackle homelessness problems in Wales.

March 1999
Ombudsman: Failures in Dealing with Homelessness

The complainant was given wrong advice by Kirklees Metropolitan Council that she could not be rehoused because of rent arrears, as such a policy was not then in force. There was unreasonable delay in deciding on the complainant's eligibility for rehousing as a homeless person and informing her of that decision.

The Council further delayed in passing a request for transfer to another council and made inadequate arrangements for a private interview with the complainant. The result was that the complainant's request for rehousing was delayed by several weeks.

The Council has paid the complainant's removal and storage costs and a further £500 to compensate her for her distress and her time and trouble caused by its delay. The Council has also taken steps to improve its procedures in the future.

Ombudsman Patricia Thomas considers that the Council's actions provide a satisfactory local settlement of the complaint.

Investigation No. 97/C/4829 (Kirklees MC).

March 1999
Ombudsman: Tenancy Wrongly Repossessed

The Council repossessed the complainant's flat on the ground of surrendered tenancy, while she was away nursing her mother in another city. Her furniture and other items were taken into storage but some items were found missing on her return.

Ombudsman Jerry White's report concludes that it was not reasonable for the Council to assume that the tenancy had been surrendered and not to serve a Notice of Seeking Possession before repossessing the flat.

The report recommends that the Council pays the complainant £1,000 compensation.

Investigation No. 97/B/4599 (Bristol CC).

March 1999
Ombudsman: Noise Nuisance Not Dealt With Properly

The complainants, a couple who were both over the age of 80 and in increasingly poor health, live in a one-bedroomed Council flat. In 1994, a new tenant moved into the flat above them. That new tenant, from time to time, received treatment for mental health difficulties.

In May 1995, the complainants alleged that the tenant above them was making too much noise. From October 1996 until the Summer of 1998, the complainants made repeated complaints to the Council about the noise from the tenant who had move in above.

The Ombudsman's report concludes that the Council acted with maladministration because, among other things, it did not deal with the complainants' allegations as required by its own procedures on noise nuisance by tenants. In particular, there was poor communication between Council departments and a case conference that was first suggested in December 1996 was not held until March 1998.

The Ombudsman considers it likely that the complainants would not have had to suffer the problems of noise for so long if the Council had acted properly and he recommends that £500 compensation is paid to them.

Investigation No. 97/A/4232 (Hackney LBC).

April 1999
News in Brief

• The London Rough Sleepers' Unit was launched and wasted no time in allocating the first tranche of its £145 million budget. Grants totalling £39 million were allocated to 26 housing associations, to meet the costs of support service schemes and to provide 500 units of accommodation across 17 of the Capital's boroughs. Associations receiving substantial allocations included Acton HA, Peabody Trust, Salvation Army HA, Notting Hill HT and Soho HA.

• Research from Help the Aged revealed that 25% of respondents consider older rough sleepers to be homeless by choice. The findings have been described by professionals as worrying examples of misinformation and stereotyping.

• Homeless charity Crisis has a new website, which features an interactive talkback page, news releases and fact sheets. The website can be found at http://www.crisis.org.uk

• Shelter Cymru published New Approaches to Homelessness in Wales: A Briefing Paper for the Welsh Assembly and Welsh MPs. Price £1.50 - further details: Tel. 01792 469400.

May 1999
London Streets Czar

Louise Casey took up her post as the new Head of the London Rough Sleepers Unit, with a 3-year budget of £145 million to tackle street homelessness in the Capital and for formulating strategies to tackle homelessness outside London. Ms Casey moved from her former post as Deputy Director of Shelter to take up the newly created £70,000 per annum post, with the promise of introducing fundamental changes to the way that London's street homelessness is tackled.

A high priority in her programme was to make contact with homeless people, to establish why they are sleeping rough. She also hoped to recruit troubleshooters from all Government departments, with the aim of developing a team of about 15 professionals - most of whom are to work on grants. Priority is also to be given to preventing homelessness, by making recommendations of tackling root problems - such as poor administration in the Housing Benefits system.

The overall target is to reduce the number of people sleeping rough by two-thirds by the year 2002.

May 1999
News in Brief

• The Government is issuing new guidance to the Housing Act 1996, directed at both Housing and Social Service departments, with the aim of bringing the provisions of the Housing Act and the Children Act together, to deal with problems associated with helping the thousands of homeless young people who call on local authorities for help.

• Bristol Shelter launched a Homeless to Home Project, which helps families to settle into a community after a period in temporary accommodation. The scheme calls on tradespeople to help by donating their time and skill in redecorating and repairing homes - to make them more habitable for families moving in.

• Homeless International announced that it would hold its LandGrab 99 event on 2nd-3rd July, when it would call on housing professionals to locate a suitable site and build a shelter from waste materials, in which they would be sponsored to sleep for one night. Further details - Tel: 01203 632802.

• The Government published the first-ever set of detailed figures for the number of rough sleepers in England. The statistics show that 1,850 people were sleeping rough in June 1998, of which 621 were in Greater London. The statistics were based on 97 council and housing investment programme estimates. As an ongoing programme, all local authorities are to be encouraged to return information every June and September.

• The withdrawal of a DETR grant worth £13,000 may force the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) to close a project that offers advice and housing support to homeless people in Hackney and Haringey. The project was seeking alternative funding and had attracted an offer of £5,000 from Hackney LBC.

• A new website and CD-rom were launched, bringing together information about homelessness in London. It includes directories, research reports, details of training courses and conferences. Homeless Pages is compiled by the Resource Information Service and a limited number of CD-roms are available free - Tel: 0171 494 2408. The website can be accessed at www.homelesspages.org.uk.

June 1999
Homelessness News in Brief

• Launching the Social Exclusion Unit report on teenage pregnancy, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that single mothers under the age of 18 would no longer be given tenancies in council flats. Instead, they were to be offered accommodation in semi-independent, supported hostels. The Housing Corporation was making £10 million available for associations interested in running hostels under the scheme.

• Scottish Executive Minister for Communities, Wendy Alexander, announced the creation of a major Task Force to review homelessness policy in Scotland. The group is led by her Deputy Social Inclusion Minister, Jackie Baillie, and it is taking an in-depth look at the causes of homelessness, with the aim of developing a long-term strategy. Future policies will build on current commitment to combating homelessness, which sees £54 million earmarked for the Rough Sleepers' and Empty Homes Initiatives.

• Scottish Homes' spending plans included £10 million in 1999-2000 to assist housing associations provide new and refurbished homes for homeless people. In addition to this investment, the Agency funded a range of research studies and information and advice projects - all with the aim of tackling and preventing homelessness in Scotland.

• Wales' new Environment Secretary, Peter Law, told delegates at the Shelter Cymru conference in Newport that homelessness would be a priority but there was no evidence to support the need for greater capital investment in rough sleeping. He did, however, agree to consider adjusting other programmes to provide more money if necessary and he said that he looks to local authorities to work with voluntary organisations in assessing the need for rough sleeping provision.

• New research from the charity Crisis found that domestic violence is the major factor in women's homelessness in England. In interviews with 77 homeless women, 63% of those aged between 30 and 49 listed domestic violence as the cause of their homelessness. Other important factors leading to homelessness include family breakdown, childhood abuse and mental health problems. Out Of Sight, Out of Mind?: Words From The Street - £7.50, Crisis - Tel: 0171 655 8337.

• Homeless International announced that its 1999 Hour's Pay Campaign would take place on World Habitat Day, 4th October 1999. Housing professionals and others were to be encouraged to donate one hour's pay to the Charity's work in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which in 1998 raised over £54,000. Each pound raised can be matched with up to £3 in statutory funding. For further details - Tel: 02476 632802.

July 1999
Homelessness News in Brief

• A report from the Working Party on Electoral Procedures made recommendations for sweeping changes, which include allowing homeless people to register on the electoral register by reference to a particular locality. Welcoming the recommendation, Chris Holmes, Director of Shelter, said if homeless people are to have a stake in society, it is essential that they can exercise their democratic right to vote.

• Figures released by CRASH revealed that 1,223 people used winter shelters last winter, provided under the Winter Shelter Programme, which was down on the 1,494 in the previous year. However, the additional 500 bed-spaces available in London ensured that rough sleepers were able to stay longer, which made resettlement for them more likely.

• A new guide is released by the National Homeless Alliance on the design of day centres. Better By Design is available from the National Homeless Alliance - Tel: 0171 833 2071.

• The latest profile of housing associations from the Housing Corporation showed that the sector's allocation of lettings to the statutory homeless has fallen from 20,000 to 15,500. Source - Profile of the RSL Sector (£15). For further details - Tel: 0171 393 2000.

• A report to the Scottish Parliament showed that homelessness in Scotland has increased by 14% since Labour came to power at Westminster. The revelation prompted calls for immediate initiatives to cut homelessness.

• A new report from Crisis - Prevention is Better than Cure - analyses the reasons for homelessness and concludes that more than one-third of homeless people end up on the streets because they have lost a council or housing association tenancy. Copies of the report are available from Crisis - Tel: 0171 655 8300 - priced £6.50.

• Employment Minister, Andrew Smith, revealed plans to use former homeless people as mentors to work with rough sleepers. A pilot training and mentoring programme is being launched in London.

August 1999
News in Brief

• The Government published its first Annual Report on rough sleeping, which details progress against commitments made in the 1998 Social Exclusion Unit report on rough sleeping. Copies are available from DETR Free Literature - Tel: 0870 1226 236.

• It was reported that London's homelessness tsarina, Louise Casey, is to have her role extended throughout England. From September 1999, her £145 million budget for London is being supplemented by £34 million Government funding to tackle rough sleeping in other parts of the Country.

• The National Rent Deposit Forum was awarded nearly £380,000 in lottery funding, to support its 145 rent deposit schemes, which helped more than 12,000 homeless people find tenancies last year by giving them loans or supporting their applications for accommodation with guarantees.

• Statistics released in Scotland showed that an estimated 32,400 households were assessed as homeless, or potentially homeless, by Scottish local authorities in 1997-98. Of these, around 17,500 were determined to have a priority need. Operation of the Homeless Persons Legislation in Scotland, 1987-88 to 1997-98, National and Local Authority Analyses. Copies are available from The Stationery Office Bookshop, 21 South Gyle Road, Edinburgh EH12 9EB: £2.

• In a new policy document from Shelter, the Agency recommended that local authorities should secure suitable accommodation for homeless people and take reasonable steps to prevent the loss of that accommodation. This represents a change in policy, which was previously based on a campaign for local authorities to provide permanent housing for homeless people.

• Crisis publishes a new report - Pressure Points, Why People With Mental Health Problems Become Homeless. The report estimates that in one in three cases loss of accommodation is associated with mental illness. It also highlights that one-fifth of homeless people on the street have a severe mental health problem. Copies are available from Crisis Publications, Tel: 0207 655 8337. Price £2.

• Discussions took place between the London homeless centres Providence Row and St Botolph's Project on the prospects of a formal partnership. Providence Row operates as a housing association and a night refuge, whereas St Botolph's Project runs a day centre in the City of London.

• Deputy Minister for Communities at the Scottish Executive, Jackie Baillie, chaired the first meeting of the Homelessness Task Force. In doing so, she highlighted the importance of the Task Force in giving homeless people a real opportunity to help shape Government policy. The Deputy Minister's clear message was that the increasing number of homelessness applications to councils can only be reversed through early, effective and focused action.

September 1999
Agenda to Tackle Homelessness in Scotland

A new package of measures to fight homelessness in Scotland was unveiled by Scottish Executive Minister for Communities, Wendy Alexander.

The package includes:

• The Homelessness Task Force will have a responsibility for examining the imposing of time limits on councils for dealing with rough sleeping cases.

• The Homelessness Task Force will be reporting back in six months' time with proposals on how current homelessness legislation can be made more effective.

• By the end of its second year, the Task Force will draw up longer term measures for tackling the underlying cause of homelessness.

• Local authorities will be expected to develop comprehensive homelessness strategies, aimed at tackling homelessness in their areas.

• The Scottish Executive will promote the development of rent-deposit schemes to help rough sleepers and those at risk of rough sleeping to get access to a house for rent.

• There will be Central Government support for a Private Member's Bill, being introduced by Cathie Craigie, which is aimed at ending unnecessary repossessions following mortgage arrears.

• Stock transfer proposals must offer new opportunities for homeless people to move into better homes.

The package came hard on the heels of an announcement of an extra £6 million for the Rough Sleepers' Initiative, of which £2 million was likely to go to mainly rural councils to develop comprehensive rough sleeping strategies. A further £2 million is being made available to encourage more support services to help people at risk of sleeping rough, or who need help to maintain their tenancy. The rest will be used to fund proposals which help prevent homelessness, such as local rent deposit schemes.

The Scottish Executive also announced a new strategy for ensuring that fewer young people leaving care fall into rough sleeping. It is estimated that 26% of rough sleepers in Scotland have been in care and 38% have been in prison. Part of the strategy is to tackle the problem of vulnerable young people falling between the DSS benefits system and help provided by local authorities. A current consultation programme centres on how local authorities' role in providing support can be strengthened.

September 1999
RSI Update (England)

• Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced a Millennium Initiative for rough sleepers, aimed at finding somewhere for all rough sleepers to stay for two weeks over the New Year. The initiative is being managed in London by St Mungo's HA and elsewhere in England by Crisis and Shelter.

• Crisis announced that it would host a party for 200 homeless people to welcome in the new millennium, which will be held at the Royal Horticultural Halls. Most of those invited have been contacted through outreach teams working in winter shelters.

• Labour MP Glenda Jackson promised a number of initiatives aimed at ending rough sleeping in London within her first term of office - if she was successful in her bid to get the Labour nomination for Mayor of London.

• A new report from Providence Row argues that banning drinking in hostels has the effect of ensuring that many rough sleepers stay on the streets. The Accommodation and Care of Homeless Street Drinkers - Providence Row. Tel: 0171 375 0020.

September 1999
Homelessness News in Brief

• New figures from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions show that for the second quarter of 1999 there were 57,430 households placed by local authorities in temporary accommodation in England, being the highest number recorded since 1993. Over half of those families were in London, which has led to the Association of London Government setting up a Homelessness Task Group to co-ordinate action across the Capital's councils.

• Recent publications include:

• Meeting Young People's Housing and Support Needs in Brighton and Hove. Centrepoint, free. Tel: 01273 729325.

• Home or Away: Tackling Youth Homelessness in the Countryside. The Countryside Agency/Centrepoint, free. Tel: 0171 544 5000.

• Missing Links. A new report from Shelter Wales, which examines the plight of 16 and 17 year olds who are facing homelessness in Wales. It calls for statutory priority housing forthis age group. The report costs £5. Tel: 01792 469400.

September 1999
Ombudsman: Council Should Pay Applicant £6,000

The complainant alleged that Hackney LBC had taken too long to rehouse him, his wife and their seven children after they were accepted in 1992 as homeless and in priority need.

He also complained about the standard of the temporary accommodation in which he and his family lived between April 1995 and April 1998, which was managed on the Council's behalf by a housing association. When the temporary accommodation was inspected by the Council's Senior Environmental Health Officer in 1998, it was concluded that the premises constituted a statutory nuisance.

Ombudsman Edward Osmotherly's report cites a number of faults by the Council:

• When in March 1993 the Council nominated the family to a housing trust for an offer of permanent housing in a house with five bedrooms, central heating and a garden, the Council gave the wrong address and consequently an offer was not received. When the mistake was uncovered in January 1994, the Council did nothing to try to put matters right.

• There was confusion about how the Council's policy on splitting families applied to the complainant and his family. When the Council received information that the composition of the complainant's family had changed, it did not check to see whether their housing needs should be reassessed.

• There was unreasonable delay by the Council in dealing with the complainant's allegations when they were referred back to the Council in April 1998.

The Ombudsman also found that there were faults by the housing association which acted on behalf of the Council. In particular:

• The Association had no record of the general state of repair of the temporary accommodation offered to the complainant and his family in 1995. The Senior Environmental Health Officer's inspection queried one of the rooms listed as a bedroom as not suitable for habitation.

• A satisfactory electrical safety check was not carried out before the family moved into the temporary accommodation.

• The Association had no records of complaints made by the family concerning defects in the temporary accommodation. The Ombudsman's report concludes that, on balance, it is likely that the complainant did make complaints to the Association and that these were not recorded.

• The Association had records of only three visits to the temporary accommodation during the period that the complainant and his family lived there. The Ombudsman takes the view that the problems with the temporary accommodation were fairly obvious and that the Association's officers could reasonably have been expected to notice them.

The Ombudsman's report recommends that the Council should pay the complainant £6,000 compensation and ensure that complaints are dealt with promptly in accordance with its own complaints procedures.

Investigation Nos. 98/A/1857-8 (Hackney LBC).

October 1999
News in Brief

• The homelessness charity Centrepoint closed its operation in Warwickshire after five years. The office, in Leamington Spa, was mainly funded by Warwickshire County Council and it had achieved the objectives set for it.

• Shelter started work on a good practice briefing on Best Value and homelessness for local authorities (completed in December). The work involved feedback from Best Value pilot councils and from the Charity's network of housing aid centres.

• A new report came from Crisis - A Future Foretold - recommending giving homeless people access to a regularly updated website that links them to all social housing vacancies across the country. Under the proposed system, a password to computers in council offices around the country would be given to a homeless person, which would enable them to track information on accommodation and local amenities.

• A headcount found 372 people sleeping rough on central London streets, compared with 317 last March (although the total was lower than for October last year). The headcount, which was carried out by the Simon Community, also found 3,138 people in direct access hostels.

• The Government announced that responsibility for resettlement funding will move from the DSS to the DETR in April 2000, thus integrating funding for homelessness services. A total of £18 million for 1999/2000 was provided for by the DSS in its resettlement programme, which supported 4,200 bed spaces.

October 1999
Ombudsman: Inadequate Enquiries and Delay

Complaint Details

The complainant and his wife lived in the North of England with their two children. In June 1996, they separated and the complainant's wife and children moved to Barnet.

In April 1997, the County Court made a joint Residence Order for the children. This required the children to live with the complainant's wife and that they should live with the complainant on such terms as agreed between him and his wife from the date when he was able to provide accommodation in London.

In June 1997, the complainant applied to the Council for housing. The homeless persons' officer had one short interview with him and decided that the Council had no housing duty to him. The complainant appealed against the decision. On 30th September 1997, the Appeals Manager concluded that the decision that the complainant was not homeless was wrong. A homeless persons' officer would have to make further enquiries to decide if the complainant was in priority need.

Another homeless persons' officer interviewed the complainant on 12th November 1997 and advised the Council's solicitor on 17th November 1997 that he considered that the complainant was in priority need because the children were dependent on both parents equally.

The solicitor advised that the Council should provide suitable accommodation for the complainant and the children. On 8th December 1997, the Council formally accepted that it was obliged to provide suitable accommodation.

The Council offered the complainant temporary accommodation for himself but not for the children. He refused it. In July 1998, the Council offered the complainant temporary accommodation for him and the children. He accepted it.

Later in July, the Council offered permanent accommodation, which would have been suitable for the complainant, to another applicant with the same points but whose application was accepted after the complainant.

In February 1999, the Council offered the complainant permanent accommodation.

Between June 1997 and July 1998, the complainant had to commute to London every week to see his children. Sometimes the children spent the weekend with him in the North of England and on other occasions they slept on the floor of the small flat occupied by the complainant's mother.

Findings

Ombudsman Edward Osmotherly's report finds that the Council made inadequate enquiries before deciding that the complainant was not homeless. It concludes that there was excessive delay (until November 1997) in making proper enquiries.

The report also concludes that, if the Council had acted without maladministration, it is likely that, in September 1997, the Council would have accepted a housing duty to the complainant and shortly afterwards would have offered him and the children temporary accommodation. The delay until July 1998 in offering them such accommodation was maladministration, as was the offer of permanent accommodation to an applicant whose application was accepted after the complainant's.

The Ombudsman recommended that the complainant be paid £1,500 compensation.

Investigation Nos. 98/A/0170 & 1437 (Barnet LBC).

November 1999
News Round-up

• Housing Minister, Nick Raynsford, confirmed that homelessness will be restored to the Housing Needs Index (HNI). The move was widely welcomed but there were calls to ensure that homelessness is adequately weighted in the Index.

• Louise Casey, Head of the Rough Sleepers' Unit, sparked controversy by claiming that well- meaning groups can have the effect of encouraging people to keep living rough. The former Deputy Director of Shelter, who is now overseeing a Government budget of £145 million for the next 3 years, upset many charities working with the homeless by her call for a radical change in tactics, aimed at no longer helping people to survive better on the streets but instead providing a wide range of assistance and advice - available only in hostels.

• New research from the Novas-Ouvertures Group found that 41% of homeless people applying to it for emergency accommodation have been evicted from hostels for anti-social behaviour. The research calls on the Government to introduce a strategy to deal with such evictions and develop specialist direct-access hostels that can provide accommodation for people who have challenging behavioural habits.

• There appeared to be little progress being made in dealing with rough sleeping in Manchester. The second annual count of rough sleepers showed a slight increase of 46 cases, compared with 44 at the previous year's count. The survey also found an increase in the number of people under the age of 25 who are sleeping rough.

• The Birmingham Homelessness Directory 1999/2000 was published. This is a new directory of hostels, supported housing and advice services in the Birmingham area, which is available from Resource Information - Tel: 0207 494 2408.

December 1999
Package Aimed at Helping Rough Sleepers

The Government announced a radical new package aimed at helping the most vulnerable rough sleepers. Key proposals included:

• Funding over 850 hostel beds with additional specialist help and 1,000 new housing association homes in London.

• Bringing over 4,000 beds nationwide into use by those sleeping rough on the streets.

• Funding 60 new specialist workers to help rough sleepers with alcohol, drug or mental health problems.

• Funding new Contact and Assessment Teams, who will help rough sleepers when they need it most.

• Piloting an emergency special needs response team for rough sleepers with acute medical problems and mental illness.

• Tackling prevention, so that new people do not become tomorrow's rough sleepers - particularly aimed at those leaving care, prison, and the armed forces.

The strategy, which takes effect from April 2000, is targeted at meeting the Government's aims of reducing rough sleeping in England by at least two-thirds by 2002. New statistics estimate that 1,600 sleep rough on any one night.

December 1999
Homelessness News in Brief

• Scottish Communities Minister Jackie Baillie opened a new housing project for homeless people in the Southside of Glasgow. A derelict building in Govanhill has been transformed into 14 bedsits and one flat with community and staff facilities. The development provides temporary accommodation for women, with support and advice from the Glasgow Simon Trust - who will manage it.

• A new study from the Institute for Public Policy Research found that rough sleepers are regularly suffering physical attacks and abuse from members of the public. The report concludes that over 60% of injuries suffered by rough sleepers are inflicted by members of the public, who are also the major source of verbal harassment and other threatening behaviour. Unsafe Street: Street Homelessness and Crime. IPPR - Tel: 0181 986 5488 (£8.95).

• A new report came from NACRO, which claims that ex-offenders are being driven back into crime because they are suffering homelessness. It concludes that homeless ex-prisoners are twice as likely to re-offend as those who have the security of a home. Going Straight Home: £3. NACRO - Tel: 0171 582 6500.

• The first ever report into homelessness for the Welsh Assembly was released. It concludes that Welsh councils are inconsistent in keeping records of rough sleeping and single homelessness and it is, therefore, hard to provide appropriate services. The report is available on-line: Rough Sleeping in Wales - www.wales.gov.uk.

• Peter Law, Welsh Assembly Secretary for Local Government and the Environment, announced grants totalling £135,000 for schemes to help rough sleepers. The money was go to ten voluntary organisations in Cardiff, Monmouthshire, Wrexham, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea and Denbighshire.

December 1999
Ombudsman: Unreasonable Delays in Reviewing Decision

Complaint Details

In July 1996, the complainant applied to Westminster City Council to be rehoused, on the grounds that her privately-rented accommodation was unsuitable for her and her four children. She was told in October 1996 that the Council did not consider this accommodation unsuitable. Following a request, made in November 1996 by a housing agency acting on the complainant's behalf, to review its decision, the Council did carry out a review but took until November 1997 to do so. It decided that the accommodation was unreasonable for occupation by the family.

The Council then decided that it had to establish whether the complainant had made herself intentionally homeless when she left a property owned by Hounslow Council in 1994. It took the Council until September 1998 to obtain the necessary information.

The Council's decision in October 1998 that the complainant was owed a rehousing duty under the Housing Act 1985 resulted in the issue of a notification to that effect - but the notification was issued under the 1996 Act. In January 1999 the correct notification was issued. The complainant had been offered temporary accommodation by the Council, which she accepted in September 1998. She and her family have lived in three different bed and breakfast hotels since that date.

Findings

Ombudsman Edward Osmotherly’s report finds that the Council delayed unreasonably both in reviewing its decision of October 1996 and in obtaining the information from Hounslow. This amounts to maladministration, as does the notification under the Housing Act 1996. The Council admits that there was unreasonable delay and has backdated its rehousing duty to December 1997. The Ombudsman finds that no offers of suitable housing have been made to applicants with less priority than the complainant since that date but recognises that the complainant has been caused avoidable uncertainty and anxiety and recommends that the Council should pay her £250.

The housing agency was put to a great deal of avoidable time and trouble and should be paid £100.

Investigation No. 98/A/0102 (Westminster CC).

January 2000
News in Brief

• The DSS launched a new pilot scheme, providing homeless people with free medical advice via a NHS direct hotline. The pilot scheme, based at St Mungo's North Lambeth day centre, will allow the centre's 120 users to make free calls to nurses for advice on how to treat themselves, or to receive professional help. Many of the users sleep rough and, if successful, the scheme was to be extended to other homelessness projects.

• Westminster City Council was having to rethink its policy for accommodating homeless people, following a challenge in a Judicial Review last December. The Judicial Review revealed how the Council has not been taking into consideration the medical needs or welfare of homeless applicants, which is required by law. Instead, its policy had been based on dealing with homeless households on a first-come, first-served basis. It is understood that, whilst the policy is being reviewed, an emergency interim policy is in place.

February 2000
Andy Ludlow Award 2000

The London Housing Unit and the Association of London Government launched the Andy Ludlow Award 2000, which is for innovative projects that assist homeless people in London. The award was established in 1999, to commemorate the achievements of Andy Ludlow and, in particular, his work with homeless people. He died in 1997 and was Director of Housing and Social Services in Haringey LBC.

The award recognises creative and innovative work by homelessness projects in London and it promotes good practices and raises the profile of work with homeless people in the capital. From the many high-calibre entries received last year, the eventual joint winners were the New Hope Project, run by Penrose HA, and the Bayswater Families Centre.

Applications are encouraged from any project, service or initiative in London that shows creativity and innovation, making an important contribution to developing services for homeless people. It is preferred that entries should show either:

• How multi-agency working has delivered or improved service delivery to homeless households or vulnerable homeless groups; or

• How homelessness is being prevented; or

• An innovative approach in dealing with disadvantage caused by homelessness.

Entry each year is open to all housing and social services departments, NHS trust authorities, Registered Social Landlords and voluntary sector organisations. Entrants must be working in the housing or social services field in the London area. Representatives from shortlisted projects will be invited to give short presentations in front of the judges as part of the assessment process. Further information can be obtained from the London Housing Unit - Tel: 0207 428 4917. Further details are also on the London Housing Unit's website at www.lhu.org.uk.

March 2000
News In Brief

• Crisis warned that homeless people will be amongst the first to suffer when Britain is hit by the global rise of drug-resistant TB. The Charity is urging for action to be taken to prevent the health of homeless people from suffering any further. It is calling for a number of initiatives to give homeless people immediate access to health care. These include health authority contracts which commit to providing TB services, routine screening of people using day centres and hostels and training for those working with homeless people.

• A new report from Centrepoint warns that official estimates of the number of rough sleepers in London are incorrect because some young people are excluded. This is partly due to many younger people avoiding areas frequently used by rough sleepers. Hidden Statistics: The Other Rough People Sleeping Rough in London (£6). Centrepoint. Tel: 020 7426 5300.

March 2000
Ombudsman: Council Fails Homeless Couple

Complaint Details

The complainants allege that Rochford DC failed in its statutory duty towards them when they were faced with eviction in 1997.

When they applied to the Council for rehousing, they were not asked to submit a homelessness application, as the Council was satisfied that they were threatened with homelessness, not intentionally so, and in priority need. The couple found a rented property in the private sector and the Council believed that it had discharged its duty to them but failed to take details of their income to determine whether it was affordable.

In May 1998 the couple moved to a second floor maisonette, which was affordable but which they consider unsuitable, as the wife has a spinal problem which makes it difficult for her to climb stairs. However, nominations to suitable properties in their area of choice have all been made to applicants with a higher priority on the housing register.

Findings

Ombudsman Jerry White's report recommends that the Council should:

• Make the complainants an ex gratia payment of £500, together with a further £250 for their time and trouble in complaining to the Ombudsman.

• Review its procedures for dealing with the homeless (or those threatened with homelessness), including its housing points system as it affects homeless applicants.

Investigation No. 98/B/1653 (Rochford DC).

March 2000
Ombudsman: Written Explanation Needed

Complaint Details

The complainant suffered domestic violence and Enfield LBC accepted a statutory duty to her as a homeless person. It made her two offers of accommodation, withdrawing the first as her former husband lived and worked nearby, but it regarded the second offer as suitable.

The complainant alleges that the Council wrongly told her that, if she refused its offer of temporary accommodation, it would not affect her priority for housing. However, when she refused the second offer, the Council decided it had discharged its homelessness duty to her and she remains without a home of her own.

According to the Housing Officer, the consequences of refusing the second offer were explained to the complainant but the complainant and her mother are certain that no explanation was given. It is, however, clear that no written explanation was given and the Ombudsman considers that this should have been done.

Findings

Ombudsman Edward Osmotherly's report finds that the failure to provide a written explanation caused the complainant injustice, as she would in all likelihood have accepted the second offer - had she been fully aware of the consequences of refusal. The Council now puts this advice in writing.

The Ombudsman recommends that the complainant should be reconsidered for offers of temporary accommodation and that her housing register application should be treated as though the Council had withdrawn the second offer in April 1998.

He further recommends that the Council should pay her £500 compensation.

Investigation No. 98/A/4244 (Enfield LBC).

April 2000
New Study Highlights Scottish Rural Issues

A series of measures to tackle rural homelessness - including setting up emergency accommodation in remote areas and helping young people sustain tenancies - are recommended by a new study, jointly commissioned by national housing Scottish Homes and Shelter Scotland. The study finds that one third of all homeless Scottish households are in rural areas. It also finds anecdotal evidence that homeless people in rural areas are less likely to register with their local authority because of concerns that they would not be housed locally.

Official homelessness statistics suggest that the rate of homelessness is lower in rural areas than in urban settlements - eight out of every 1,000 households are homeless in rural areas compared to 14 out of every 1,000 in urban areas. However, this latest research argues that this difference may be more apparent than real. For example, it shows that rural authorities may be more strict in the way they deal with homeless applications. The difference could also be due to the fact that fewer young, single people - the age group most prone to homelessness - live in rural regions.

Reasons for homelessness are found by the research to be broadly similar for both rural and urban areas, although the amount of people made homeless by Notices to Quit is much higher in rural parts.

Recommendations made by the study include:

• An investigation into why assessment outcomes by local authorities vary.

• Joint initiatives between local agencies to develop larger networks and improve access to information.

• Better access to and increased efficiency of the private rented sector - such as setting up landlord forums to share information.

• External auditing, for example by Scottish Homes or Audit Scotland.

April 2000
Focus Needed on Prevention of Homelessness

The call for a more systematic and evidence-based approach to tackling single homelessness and rough sleeping came in research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and CRASH. It finds that attempts to explain single homelessness as purely a housing problem are giving way to more complex analyses that take account of social, economic and personal risk factors.

The report supports the widely accepted need to focus on prevention of homelessness and suggests possible preventive interventions, including:

• Housing advice and aid, mortgage rescue schemes and rent deposit guarantee schemes.

• School education programmes on leaving home and homelessness, mediation for family disputes, befriending and mentoring to tackle social isolation.

• Tenancy support for young people and those at risk of eviction, resettlement programmes for people leaving the armed forces and extended support for care leavers.

The review of single homelessness research was carried out to assess the strength of existing knowledge and identify gaps in the evidence available. CRASH is making the review available to key agencies working with single homeless people free of charge. It has also urged organisations to send in findings from any future research. Studies of importance will be summarised in a web-site bibliography, to be hosted by the University of Glasgow. CRASH will also arrange for the research to be reviewed and published on-line once a year.

Single homelessness: An Overview of Research in Britain is published by The Policy Press, c/o Marston Book Services, PO Box 269, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4YN (01235 465500), price £ 13.95 plus £ 2.50 p&p.

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