Poor information ‘blocking progress’ on homelessness
Government efforts to tackle homelessness are being hindered by “inadequate and unreliable” information, a committee of MPs warns today.
The Commons public accounts committee finds considerable progress has been made in cutting the number of families in temporary accommodation and those sleeping rough.
But it warns these efforts – which cost about £1 billion a year – are compromised by a lack of information on who needs help. In particular, the report notes, it makes it difficult to establish how many families are gaining access to affordable housing.
“Fourteen years ago, this committee called for better information on homelessness. We are still waiting. The official statistics remain inadequate and unreliable,” said chairman Edward Leigh.
“The Office for the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) must work with local authorities and voluntary organisations to understand the real reasons for homelessness and to determine whether support provided to the homeless is effective.”
A spokesman for the ODPM admitted that more had to be done to improve data gathering, but insisted it was committed to providing access to social housing and had made good progress in tackling the “most severe and damaging” aspects of homelessness.
The report highlights the social and health impacts of homelessness, noting that people living on the streets live to an average of just 42 years old.
Meanwhile, children living in insecure, shared or temporary accommodation often have their schooling disrupted and are more prone to behavioural problems than other young people.
Today’s report finds that target setting, financial support and advice to local authorities by the ODPM’s homelessness directorate has cut the amount of rough sleeping by more than two thirds since 1999.
And it describes as a “significant achievement” the sharp reduction between 2002 and 2004 in the number of families forced to live in bed and breakfast accommodation.
But it warns the ODPM must make sure that such families are not just being moved to other forms of temporary accommodation, and cautions that many of the people brought off the streets into hostels are not given sufficient support to keep them there.
In addition, the MPs question how much affordable housing is made available to homeless families, particularly in areas of serious shortage such as London and the south-east.
“It would be quite unjust if homeless households were not getting their fair share of such housing. ODPM needs to make sure that housing associations are not avoiding their obligation to local authorities to provide permanent homes for the homeless,” he said.
A spokesman for ODPM said the report recognised the progress in tackling homelessness, but said its five-year strategy would build on that by aiming to halve the number of households living in temporary accommodation by 2010.
Improving access to settled, affordable homes was a “key strand” of its efforts, he continued, and the government was committed to a 50 per cent increase in the supply of new rented homes by 2008.
On the issue of data gathering, the spokesman admitted more needed to be done. But he insisted statistics had been “much improved” since the committee’s report in 1991, including the commissioning of a study of 2,500 households who have been homeless.
