Homelessness charities welcomed the fall in rough sleeping revealed in the latest Government statistics.
But they also warned that the number of people on the streets at night is still too high, and likely to rise again due to Universal Credit.
Mike Thiedke, chief executive of Depaul UK, said: “While it is good news that the number of people sleeping on our streets has gone down by two percent, it’s still completely unacceptable that thousands of people are having to sleep rough every night in one of the world’s richest countries.
“Rough sleeping will not end unless issues with the benefits system are sorted out. Universal Credit should be helping people to escape homelessness but, instead, it is trapping people on the streets, preventing them from finding a safe place to live."
Depaul, which runs a network of 30 Nightstop emergency accommodation services, called on the Government to scrap the five-week wait for people’s first Universal Credit payments, condemning it as "cruel".
Thiedke added: “Depaul UK’s 2018 Life on the Streets report found that in the 40 local authorities in England with the highest number of 18-to-25-years-olds sleeping rough, only 57 private rented rooms were available to the 225 young homeless people sleeping on the street every night. This is in part due to welfare reforms that have limited the amount of housing benefit young people can claim.
“We often work with young people who don’t have a roof over their head. They are extremely vulnerable, and can suffer physical or sexual abuse when left without a safe place to stay.”
The figures of the number of people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2018 show a fall by two percent compared with the previous year, but still 165 percent higher than the figure for 2010.
Rick Henderson, chief executive of Homeless Link, said: “Thousands of people are sleeping outside on our streets every night, and it is a shameful situation that so many are having to live like this in our country today, without a place to call home. Sleeping rough is extremely dangerous and detrimental to health – it has no place in our society and it reflects wider systems failure.
“This is the first year since 2010 that we haven’t seen an increase in rough sleeping. Through the recent Rough Sleeping Strategy, there has been some targeted action with investment into outreach services and the homelessness sector, and we hope this shows that with investment and political will we can start to stem the tide. However, the situation would be far worse without the work being undertaken by our members, local homelessness services, many of whom are struggling as cuts continue to affect their ability to deliver these vital services.
“This is barely scratching the surface of what needs to be done. To reach a zero sum by 2027, there must be a sustained cross-Government approach to tackling the structural causes of homelessness. We must fix our broken welfare system, tackle the poverty that so many people are living in, build more genuinely affordable homes, and work back from years of under investment in critical support services – our health and mental health services, drug and alcohol services, domestic violence services, and a challenged criminal justice system. Only then will we truly end rough sleeping for good.”
-ENDS-
Loading ...
