MPs call rough sleeping a source of national shame

The Salvation Army strongly welcomes the recommendations from the cross-party Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee on how to tackle the rise in rough sleeping and to prevent future homelessness. In particular, it welcomes the call for the UK Government to review how local authorities assess who is in priority need for emergency housing.

A spokesperson for The Salvation Army, which is one of the country’s largest providers of homelessness services, said: “The Committee of MPs is right to call the number of people forced to sleep rough ‘a source of national shame.’ Housing is a basic human need, and everyone deserves a safe and secure home. Yet rough sleeping has reached crisis levels, demanding urgent attention.

“We particularly welcome the Committee’s recognition that there should be a review of the priority need system used by local authorities in England to decide who gets emergency or temporary accommodation. Our analysis of local authority data in England* shows that almost one in three people who are homeless are rejected.

“It is unacceptable that even people who have lived on the streets for years—without proper shelter or sanitation and at high risk of illness, injury and early death —are not automatically deemed a priority. The Salvation Army has been campaigning for this unjust system to be reformed.

“We know local authorities do not want to turn people away, but they are being forced to make impossible decisions due to sparse resources and restrictive legal criteria for homelessness help. However, it is irresponsible to leave destitute people on the streets and in harm’s way.

“We also urge the UK Government implement the Committee’s recommendations that would help prevent people becoming homeless in the first place. Such as maintaining the value of the Local Housing Allowance and investing in addiction services, which have suffered a decade of cuts. When it comes to the homelessness crisis, prevention is still better than cure.”

The Salvation Army is calling on the UK Government to:

• Change homelessness legislation in England so that rough sleepers are added to the priority need list for emergency and then longer-term housing. But, in the long term, for the priority need list to be abolished so everyone who is homeless can be helped.
• Maintain the value of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to protect it against a rise in inflation so the poorest households can at least afford the cheapest third of private rental properties in their area.
• Ensure mental health and addiction support is part of local authority homelessness strategies and that targets are set on the number of people who are provided with mental health and addiction support alongside existing targets for accommodation.

* The Salvation Army: Breaking the Cycle: England's Priority Need System

The following have a priority need for accommodation set out in the law that applies to all local authorities in England:

(a) a pregnant woman or a person with whom she resides or might reasonably be expected to reside;

(b) a person with whom dependent children reside or might reasonably be expected to reside;

(c) a person who is vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reason, or with whom such a person resides or might reasonably be expected to reside;

(d) a person who is homeless or threatened with homelessness as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster.

(e) a person who is homeless as a result of that person being a victim of domestic abuse.

(f) a person who is 16 or 17 years old and not being looked after by social services.

(g) a person who is 18, 19 or 20 years old and spent time in care while between 16 and 18.