Thames Reach gives 'full backing' to Government's rough sleeping strategy » Housing » 24dash.com

Homelessness charity Thames Reach is giving its full backing to the Government’s new strategy to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2012.

No One Left Out, launched earlier this week, shows a Government commitment to working in partnership with homelessness charities to achieve this.

Ten years on from the Government’s pledge to bring about a two thirds reduction – during which time homelessness charities have helped 20,000 rough sleepers off the streets – the new raft of ideas offers hope that we can finish the job.

Thames Reach Chief Executive Jeremy Swain, said: “It is excellent that the Government is putting its full weight behind the objective of ending rough sleeping by 2012.

"This bold commitment will give England a real opportunity to be the first modern democracy to bring an end to this unnecessary and avoidable social injustice.”

He added: “This is an opportunity to help people escape from a life centred around the need to curl up on cardboard in a shop doorway, find somewhere decent to live with good support, rebuild relationships and find a job. We should seize it with both hands.

“It’s not about cleaning up the city in time for the Olympics. It’s about using the games as a catalyst to create the momentum to achieve services that people will choose to use rather than staying outdoors.”

The timing of the launch is opportune as recent years have seen a slight rise in the numbers of people sleeping rough in the capital. (Figures currently show about 300 people sleeping rough on any one night with 3,017 sleeping rough over the course of a year.)

Jeremy Swain called on the homelessness sector, local authorities and regional and central government to work in a more coordinated way.

“There is a need for someone on the ground being given a trouble-shooting role to make the system work as effectively as possible.”

Among the ideas in the strategy, five specific new proposals stood out:

• The introduction of street needs audits offers a welcome extension of the traditional street count mechanism so that a more strategic and comprehensive assessment of needs can be made.
• A proposed working hostels pilot will help homeless charities experiment with new ways of getting homeless people into work.
• A private sector leasing initiative will open up more accommodation so that homeless organisations can move people onwards and upwards from hostels.
• A new London Delivery Board will ensure that there is a more strategic approach to tackling the capital’s rough sleeping problem.
• A commitment to improving access to health and social care services for people with multiple needs who are sleeping rough or in hostels – helping those most at risk of becoming entrenched long-term rough sleepers.