Homelessness organisations welcome Ruth Kelly's pledge » Housing » 24dash.com

Organisations have welcomed Ruth Kelly's pledge to end the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless 16- and 17-year-olds.

The Communities Secretary has asked councils to set up lodgings centres that will provide guidance and support, as well as shelter, for youngsters kicked out by their parents.

Jenny Edwards, chief executive of Homeless Link (the umbrella group for organisations working with and for homeless people) said: "We've come a long way since the days when the most many homeless people could hope for was a bowl of soup and a bed for a night. Services are increasingly focused on helping people turn their lives around. This announcement moves things further forward.

"We warmly welcome a move to ensure that hostels nationally become places of change - providing programmes of positive activities including skills and learning. This builds on and supports the excellent work many of our member organisations are already doing.

"We also welcome the important pledge to take young people out of unsuitable Bed and Breakfast accommodation and into more supportive lodgings. These and the sort of family mediation schemes now proposed by the Government have already proven their value where they are currently offered. 

"The important steps announced today will reduce homelessness and we applaud them as positive moves towards ending homelessness in this country. However, we will also be looking the forthcoming comprehensive spending review for confirmation that the Government is committed to ending this social blight forever."

Homeless Link this month launched a campaign to end homelessness in the UK by 2022 and issued a challenge for the country to end rough sleeping by the time of the Olympics. This challenge was accepted on behalf of London by Mayor Ken Livingstone and on behalf of the Conservative Party by Caroline Spelman MP, Shadow spokesperson on Communities and Local Government.

Shelter chief executive, Adam Sampson, said:"The Government's commitment to stop using bed and breakfasts to house 16 and 17 year olds and provide supported lodgings are positive moves which will improve the safety net for this vulnerable group.

"40 years ago Cathy Come Home highlighted the tragic effect on young families of having nowhere to call home - yet today there are still more than one million children trapped by bad housing or homelessness.

"To lift today's Cathys and their children out of the nightmare of bad housing, the Treasury must commit to funding 20,000 extra social homes each year."

Anthony Lawton, Centrepoint chief executive, said: "There are a number of really important measures announced today that we are delighted to see come into force.  In particular, we have long campaigned to end the use of B&B for 16 and 17 year olds and we welcome the setting of a deadline to end this practice.  It is unacceptable that vulnerable young people are placed in unsupported and unsuitable accommodation. 

"At the same time, the commitment to invest in providing hostel accommodation suitable for the 21st century is to be welcomed.  Centrepoint works to address the needs of the whole person through education, training, healthy living and life skills advice.  Providing a roof is one thing but it is how the whole person is treated that breaks the cycle of exclusion and builds firm foundations."

Other measures welcomed by Centrepoint include the emphasis on mediation and supported lodgings.  Centrepoint experience shows that mediation has an important role to play in prevention.

Mr Lawton, continued: "We agree that much has been done in the 40 years since Cathy Come Home first appeared on our screens and the measures announced today make a contribution.  That said, we are still concerned that there is no true reflection of the scale of youth homelessness with statistics still failing to capture young people who sleep rough, the so called "hidden" homeless who sofa surf and remain invisible on public transport, and those young people who are not accepted as homeless by local authorities.  We welcome today's measures and intend to scrutinise their implementation."

Jane Slowey, Foyer's Chief Executive said: "We're delighted that Government intends to build on the success of the Foyer network by ensuring that accommodation for homeless young people integrates education and support.   Foyers have been doing just that since 1992 - they now work with over 10,000 young people each year helping them make the transition to independence.

"I hope we can work with Government to share the learning we've built up over the last 14 years."

Nacro, the crime reduction charity, has welcomed Ruth Kelly's announcement of a package of measures to tackle homelessness amongst young people, but believes that the Government needs to address the issue of where young people move on to after temporary accommodation.

Nacro's housing association houses over 1300 ex-offenders and other vulnerable homeless people.  Nacro works with tenants to enable them to find and keep a place of their own, to develop practical living skills, and to access education and employment opportunities. 

Commenting on the announcement, Tim Bell, Director of Nacro Housing, said: "The Government's focus on prevention through family mediation and temporary accommodation is welcome.  Young homeless people are particularly vulnerable to getting into trouble and measures to prevent homelessness should therefore go a long way in the prevention of offending.

"The Government must take this opportunity to properly address the issue of move on.  Young people are still unfairly excluded from access to housing with many local authorities and landlords refusing to offer tenancies to young people under 18.

"The Government must consider where those young people who can't return home will move to."