RMBC failing to tackle homelessness issues

A 'help the homeless' placard

A hard-hitting independent report on Rochdale’s growing homelessness crisis has shown that the council’s response to the issue has been largely ineffectual and the situation is likely to get much worse.

The report, prepared by Housing Quality Network has shown that council cuts in emergency bed provision last year has resulted in a massive increase in applications for bed and breakfast accommodation. Over the past year, use of B&B accommodation has increased from under 10 nights per month to 132 nights per month on average.

The report shows an increase in homelessness from 96 in the year 2008-9 to 202 in 2011-12 and predicts that this will rise to 300 in the coming year which represents a 400% increase on the 2009-10 levels.

The closure of the Salvation Army hostel because of council cuts has lead to an increase in demand for services from single people. Agencies such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Law Centre have reported a large number of applications for advice; many caused by changes to Housing Benefit.

Although there is: ‘... a plentiful supply of affordable accommodation in the borough...” the report points out that many homeless people are unable to access this because of their support needs involving mental health issues, addiction problems or previous debt history.

The reduction in advice services means “there is a risk that most vulnerable people will miss out.”

In calling for more resources to be put in, the report adds: “Community led solutions, befriending, and volunteering can only help to bridge this gap, but only if resources are put into supporting the community and voluntary sector with capacity building, fundraising and skills development.”

More worryingly, almost a year since these issues were first highlighted by the Chill-Out campaign and others, the reports found that: “At present, there is no tracking of people applying for, receiving or being refused support, which is necessary to identify how effective services are in supporting people to achieve independence. Outcomes-monitoring by each service needs to be in place, and co-ordinated centrally, to see whether clients achieving positive outcomes reappear elsewhere in the system, or where they are intentionally transferred between services, whether progress is sustained. As services are newly commissioned, there is no real outcomes data as yet, but long-term monitoring, including at least sample follow up after 12 and 24 months, is vital to ensure value for money in these services long-term."

With specific regard to the current policy of putting many homeless people in B&B accommodation: “Reducing the use of Bed and Breakfast accommodation has to be a high priority for the new homelessness strategy, both because of the negative impact that B&B has on the lives of individuals and their ability to access services, and because the Council can recoup only 20% of the cost of this. Increasing expenditure on B&B further reduces the Council’s ability to respond proactively to needs. At present, high risk offenders, people with complex needs and vulnerable women are placed together with no support in B&B establishments some distance from services, because temporary accommodation services in Rochdale borough are unable to cope with them...”

The findings were discussed at a large meeting attended by councillors and those working with the homeless. One insider who asked not to be named told Rochdale Online: “It is extremely disappointing that almost a year after these issues were first raised, we are still in a ‘talking-shop’ with no clear idea of what we need to put in place to address the issues.

“We know all about the government forcing cuts on the council but local implementation of this is down to the council. They still have money to throw on visiting celebrities and the Feelgood Festival at the same time as homelessness is set to rise by up to 400% and decent families are queuing up at the Foodbank.

“Charities and voluntary organisations can only do so much. We urgently need more council resources including funding.”

“Everyone seems to understand the problem and they seem to say the right things but on the ground, little appears to have been done. We can only really judge people on their actions and not on their words.

“The B&B strategy has been a total disaster. As for the lack of tracking, this just shows that the situation is little short of shambolic.”

Further meetings are being planned to discuss how to take the report’s recommendations forward.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/127/council-watch/75318/mp-danczuk-lays-into-council-leader-lambert