Lord Roberts of Llandudno
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place with the Government of Poland to ensure the continuation of reconnection and rehabilitation programmes for destitute Polish rough sleepers in the United Kingdom.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In so doing, I declare an interest as president of the Friends of Barka UK, a renowned homeless charity.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)
My Lords, the Government have not made a specific arrangement with the Government of Poland. The Polish embassy in London works closely with homeless charities such as Thames Reach, The Passage and Barka, as well as the Greater London Authority and Westminster council. Reconnecting rough sleepers to their home countries is the best way to tackle destitution. The embassy is able to assist by quickly providing travel documentation and advice to its citizens.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer but is she aware that Barka, which deals mainly with destitute and homeless eastern European citizens, has, to date, already been able to rehabilitate 2,822 citizens from eastern Europe? That is largely thanks to funding from certain London boroughs, but now, with the economic crisis, much of that funding is being withdrawn. That means that those who previously could have been helped will still be on the streets of London. Can we not somehow find a way to resolve this problem and help these people go where they want to go—to their own homes?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, the noble Lord is correct that four London authorities that have been supporting Barka financially are now unable to do so. I agree with my noble friend that one of the important aspects regarding destitute immigrants is that they should be reconnected and helped to get back home. There are ways of doing that. The Polish embassy is helpful in providing documentation and Westminster City Council and the Greater London Authority have the means to do it. It is absolutely right that anybody who is here and not in a position to look after themselves would probably be better at home, and it is helpful for us to help to get them there.
Lord McKenzie of Luton
My Lords, on the basis of government figures, rough sleeping in England has risen by 23% since 2010 and some 25% in London. The Mayor of London, supported by the coalition Government, committed to end rough sleeping by 2012. Are there any conversations or interviews planned with the mayor to find out where it is all going wrong?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I am not sure about it going wrong. It is correct that more people are sleeping rough. There are a number of reasons for that, some of which are that at least half the rough sleepers in London are not UK nationals, so they have to be helped in the way in which I described. The Government already give the Mayor for London money to support No Second Night Out, which means that people are getting help immediately, so they are not sleeping out, particularly on these very cold nights.
Baroness Gardner of Parkes
As the Poles have a marvellous reputation for being hard working, I am surprised that this issue is related particularly to Polish people. Does the Minister agree that a good many shelters are provided for the homeless in London, even in central London? I have been involved with some myself through charity. Does the Minister think that one of the big problems with a lot of homeless sleepers is their additional problems, and that it is not just about being short of money? Some have drug or alcohol problems, or some illness. Does she not think it important that these things should be available to people so that they can be dealt with in rehabilitation, even here, before they go back to their own countries?
Baroness Hanham
Yes, my noble friend raises an interesting point because a number of people who sleep rough have additional problems, such as mental health or alcohol problems. It is very important that when they are being helped to reconnect, those services are reconnected as well. There are organisations that do that, and if UK nationals are involved we ensure that they receive the services that they need.
Lord Peston
My Lords, I apologise to noble Lords for intervening twice in the same Question Time, which is not my wont, but I am very intrigued by the Question. Will the Minister say whether her department actually collects data on the nationality of rough sleepers? Secondly, are Poles disproportionately represented in that database? Thirdly, is she aware that if she were looking for a good Keynesian expansionary policy to get the economy going, collecting useless data is one of the best things I can think of?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, useless data are useless; helpful data are helpful. Yes, we actually do collect figures about homelessness, which are important data. Otherwise, we would not know how many people there are or where they come from. We cannot start reconnecting people if we do not have the data to know where they should go or whether they need additional help. We do know the hotspots across the country for rough sleeping, and I am sure that the noble Lord would agree that that is a good use of information.
Baroness Hussein-Ece
My Lords, young people leaving care are still sadly overrepresented among rough sleepers. I saw two young boys the other day in the freezing cold slumped in a shop corner in the Holloway Road in Islington, looking totally destitute. Will the Minister tell us what is being done to try to tackle this problem, which has been going on for so many years?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, the noble Baroness will know that for children under or between 14 and 18 there are very fast services to make sure that they are not left on the street. Centrepoint, Depaul UK and St Basils are particularly good at finding them, so anyone within that age group should not be on the street for more than a very short time. We know that there are problems for slightly older people—those between 18 and 25—who make up one in 10 of rough sleepers. Again my noble friend is correct: some of those, at least, are people who have left care. It is one of the important aspects with care now that we make sure that they do have a future and somewhere to go and do not end up on the streets of London.