11/05/2021 A councillor's guide to leading the homelessness sector | Local Government Association [] Home [/] > Publications [/publications] View [/publications/councillors-guide-leading-homelessness-sector] Edit [/node/8265934/edit] Delete [/node/8265934/delete] Revisions [/node/8265934/revisions] A councillor's guide to leading the homelessness sector In this guide, we seek to provide councillors whether in cabinet, scrutiny or their own wards, with some key information about homelessness and, perhaps, more importantly, some inspiring examples of action by councils that has made a real difference already. Housing, planning and homelessness [/topics/housing-and-planning] 11 May 2021 LGA 5.111 Foreword When someone becomes homeless it is a personal tragedy. For a single person it can mean living rough, and a downward spiral of ill-health, unemployment and poverty. For families it can mean disrupted education, long hours travelling to work and huge strains on relationships. Councils face increased housing demand pressures across the board as they strive to provide homelessness support and invest in homelessness prevention services. Councillors face challenging policy choices and often see the impact of homelessness on individuals and their communities at first hand. The immediate impact of COVID-19 was a great concern and we saw councils do an incredible job getting people sleeping rough off the streets and into safe accommodation in record time. As we emerge from the pandemic waiting lists are set to potentially nearly double and the Local Government Association (LGA) is asking for councils to be given powers to kickstart a post-pandemic building boom of 100,000 new social homes for rent each year to help tackle the issue. However, solving the homelessness crisis will not happen overnight and in this guide, we seek to provide councillors whether in cabinet, scrutiny or their own wards, with some key information about homelessness and, perhaps, more importantly, some inspiring examples of action by councils that has made a real difference already. There will be many competing priorities for councils in the years ahead and tackling homelessness must be one that takes centre stage. Councillors have a vital role to play in this. Whether by supporting front line staff who deal with homeless people everyday, linking up with voluntary organisations who can share knowledge of what is happening locally or making the case for investment that helps both those in need and ease future demand, councillors are able to provide genuine local leadership. The LGA will be making the case at national level for the resources needed to tackle homelessness and will offer training opportunities and highlight good practice wherever it is found. We hope you will find this guide a useful resource as you continue to play your part in reducing and hopefully one day eliminating the tragedy of homelessness in our communities. Cllr David Renard, Local Government Association housing spokesperson Purpose and scope of the guide This guide has been written with recently appointed cabinet members, with responsibility for homelessness, in mind but it will be of interest to any councillor dealing with homelessness, either as a ward councillor or through scrutiny work. The guide aims to provide an overview of the issues surrounding homelessness and suggests some things you may want to investigate. It also contains links to a range of sources which will enable you to look at particular aspects more deeply. https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/councillors-guide-leading-homelessness-sector 1/19 11/05/2021 A councillor's guide to leading the homelessness sector | Local Government Association The guide looks at the legislative framework on homelessness within which councils work and at specific aspects of the policy area and how responsibilities are discharged. Councils have considerable discretion about how they carry out their duties and this guide seeks to highlight some of the different approaches which can be taken to reflect local circumstances and priorities. Where statistics are quoted these were the most up to date available at the time of writing. There have been both legislative and methodological changes affecting some homelessness statistics in recent years but links in the document have been provided to authoritative sources, while council officers will be able to provide local figures. A number of good practice examples are highlighted and there are links to more details of these as well as to other examples. Thinking at both local and national government levels on homelessness continues to develop and there are live debates about how best to address the issue in a given locality. This guide tries to provide signposts to places where you can follow and participate in those discussions. This guide was prepared for the LGA by Sir Steve Bullock, the Independent Chair of the Pan London Accommodation Collaborative Enterprise (PLACE) and Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Cabinet Member for Housing, LB Islington. Editing and proofreading by Two Faces Design, 12 Upleatham Street, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, TS12 1LQ. Introduction A good home provides a place where an individual or a family can feel safe and secure. If it is affordable it creates opportunities and offers choices about the life that its residents want to lead. The lack of a home leaves individuals and families vulnerable, disadvantaged and trapped in a situation where employment, education, health and personal relationships are put under huge strain. Yet if you talk to most residents of your area about homelessness, they will not know how serious this problem has become. They may be aware of some people who are sleeping rough but when told for how many families the council is responsible and has placed in temporary accommodation, they will probably be shocked. On 30 September 2020, there were 93,490 households in temporary accommodation in England according to recent figures published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957573/Statutory_homel Sep_2020_REVISED.pdf] . Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have been monitoring data about homelessness for a number of years and their annual Homelessness Monitor provides detailed information and commentary [https://www.crisis.org.uk/ending- homelessness/homelessness-knowledge-hub/homelessness-monitor/] . At Christmas 2020 a Crisis media release [http://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/more-than-200-000-households-across-england-will-be-homeless-this- christmas/] estimated that over 200,000 households in England faced what is known as core homelessness, a figure that includes rough sleepers, hostel residents and ‘sofa surfers’ among others. Over the last decade the scale of this challenge has grown significantly but actions that have been taken at both local and national levels demonstrate that it is possible to make a difference. The LGA itself published a comprehensive report in 2017 [http://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/5.12%20HOUSING%20AND%20HOMELESSNESS_v08_4.pdf] which provides many examples of effective local innovation to tackle homelessness by councils and their local partners. Although the changes needed to reduce homelessness at scale will take years to work through, there are things you can do in your role as a councillor that can make a difference. Working with council officers, housing providers and local organisations you can provide leadership and encourage innovation. We hope that this guide will help you to do that and offer ideas that you can take forward and adapt to your local circumstances. One city’s approach Newcastle City Council, in partnership with its Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO), Your Homes Newcastle (YHN) and more than 100 agencies and organisations across the city, has prevented over 24,000 households from becoming homeless since 2014. It has the highest homelessness prevention rate of England’s core cities and has pledged to become the first UK city to eradicate homelessness. Last December, this achievement was recognised with the prestigious international World Habitat 2020 Gold Award for its long-term approach to homelessness prevention. In 2020 alone, 918 individuals were given supported accommodation and 4,233 cases of homelessness were prevented. Evictions from Your Homes Newcastle properties have been cut by 75 per cent since 2008. Newcastle City Council Deputy Leader, Joyce McCarty, explains how it has been done https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/councillors-guide-leading-homelessness-sector 2/19 11/05/2021 A councillor's guide to leading the homelessness sector | Local Government Association Homelessness is always a crisis, whether someone has been homeless for a day or a year. Its impact ripples out far beyond the distress and damage done to the individuals and families who find themselves with no place to call their own. People who have fallen into homelessness are never happy about the turn their life has taken; it’s something almost no-one deliberately chooses. The rest of us often are – and should be – ashamed that one of the world’s richest economies can’t find a way to put a roof over every citizen’s head. Obviously, there are no quick fixes. But here in Newcastle we have found the slow, steady, consistent fix that eradicates homelessness for good. How? Obviously, the root causes of homelessness are complex and there’s no one road that leads there. But the council decided in 2013 to make preventing homelessness a priority. Now we’ve committed ourselves to eradicating homelessness entirely. Despite the complexity of the problem, we have come to understand that we only need to follow a single guiding principle to make this apparently unattainable ambition achievable. In this city, we no longer see homelessness as only crisis management. With our many partners across the city, from government agencies to charities and welfare organisations, we now see homelessness as a process.