Homelessness conference tackles 'ending rough sleeping' » Housing » 24dash.com

Ten years after the Labour government said it wanted to bring rough sleeping to as close to zero as possible, this is the question UK homelessness charities will ask and answer at a national conference in Birmingham this week.

Delegates will share their expertise via video link with their US counterparts at a homelessness conference in Washington, DC.

Jenny Edwards, chief executive of Homeless Link, said: "Tremendous progress has already been made. Now we must commit to finishing the job.

"Two groups have been left on the streets.

"New arrivals who need quick help to make sure their problems dont escalate. And those with multiple needs who are very often excluded from the public services they most need.

"It is time, under new national leadership, to renew the commitment to help the people in the very deepest exclusion turn their lives around.

"It can be done in five years if we get backing and leadership from the top of government."

Delegates at Journeys home: an end to rough sleeping on July 11 and 12 represent the frontline agencies that have successfully been delivering results for the past decade.

They will be assessing the progress made and identifying the steps still to be taken.

Their recommendations will form the basis of a report Homeless Link is preparing for the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Governments commitment to tackle rough sleeping.

Noting that the UK is a world leader in efforts to end rough sleeping, Jenny Edwards also announced that there will be an eve of conference video link up with homelessness groups attending the Ending Chronic Homelessness conference in Washington, DC.

Edwards said: "We believe on both sides of the Atlantic that the social blight of rough sleeping can be relegated to the past. Hundreds of communities in the United States have plans to end street homelessness by 2010. We call on our own local government leaders to take up the same challenge here."

Homeless Link has set a goal  endorsed by the mayor of London to end rough sleeping in the UK by 2012.

* The Homeless Link conference Journeys home: an end to rough sleeping takes place at Aston University, Birmingham on Wednesday and Thursday, 11 and 12 July.

Don't miss the 24dash.com audio bulletins for the latest news and information - http://www.24dash.com/podcasts