Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)
In begging leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, I draw attention to my entry in the register of interests.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)
My Lords, we inherited the worst housing crisis in generations. Levels of homelessness are nothing short of a national disgrace. Our Government recognise that homelessness can have a devastating effect on those involved, including young people. We have allocated £633 million to councils directly for homelessness and homelessness prevention, taking total funding to nearly £1 billion this year. The Deputy Prime Minister is also chairing an interministerial group to develop a long-term strategy to deliver the long-term solutions we need. We will consider youth homelessness as part of that.
Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-Afl)
I thank the Minister for that Answer. What assessment have the Government made of the YMCA’s call for the introduction of a new youth independence payment for people living independently without family support? It would mean that those under 25 who live independently would see their universal credit rise to the same rate as that of those over 25, which would help to support some of the most vulnerable young people and help tackle youth homelessness. Will the Minister meet the YMCA to discuss this?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
My Lords, the Government recognise the challenges that young people without family support face—for example, care leavers as they move out of the care system. We want to do more to ensure we facilitate a successful transition from care to adulthood, including strengthening current housing offers for all care leavers. The DWP works in close partnership with DfE to ensure that care leavers can access a range of support, in particular by simplifying interaction with the benefits system and helping them into work so that they can progress and secure employment. There is also a range of financial support, including exemption from the shared accommodation rate, discretionary housing payments and support through the household support fund. I am very interested in the proposals from the YMCA on a youth independence payment, and I look forward to discussing that with it.
Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Lab)
My Lords, Monday this week marked three years since the repeal of the Vagrancy Act was given Royal Assent. Yet each night since then, young people forced to sleep on the streets have still faced criminalisation because each day nothing has been done to commence that repeal. That is despite the Government’s position that the Act is antiquated and not fit for purpose, and despite the additional powers the Government say they need before repeal being contained in the Crime and Policing Bill. The Bill still does not have the crucial commencement date required to repeal the Vagrancy Act. Will my noble friend liaise with her ministerial colleagues to ensure that the Government use the Crime and Policing Bill to finally commence the repeal of this pernicious and outdated law?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
My noble friend knows how strongly I agree with the comments she has just made. The Government view the Vagrancy Act as antiquated and no longer fit for purpose. No one should be criminalised for simply sleeping rough on the streets. We must ensure that we avoid criminalising those who are the most vulnerable, while also ensuring that police and local authorities have the wide range of tools they need to make sure that communities feel safe. We are in the process of making sure that happens. As my noble friend will know, repeal of the Act needs to be included in forthcoming legislation. Colleagues in the Home Office are exploring options to do just that, and I want to make sure it is done as quickly as possible.
Lord Young of Cookham (Con)
My Lords, as the noble Baroness said, a very high proportion of young people who become homeless were originally in care, with one survey indicating that a third of care leavers become homeless within two years. The Children and Social Work Act 2017 requires local authorities to continue to support care leavers until they are 25. Is the Minister satisfied that local authorities are doing all they can in that respect?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
As I said in my initial Answer, we continue to strive to make sure that we offer the best support possible for care leavers. The noble Lord is right to say that they deserve to have that support right through to the age of 25. Earlier this year, we introduced a measure into the DfE’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to make sure that no care leaver in scope of corporate parenting duties can be found intentionally homeless. We also made the decision to further strengthen legislation as the Government are all too aware of the long-term impact that pre-care and post-care experiences can have on young people. It is essential, as part of local authorities’ role as corporate parents, that this vulnerability is recognised and that care leavers are provided with the care, stability and support they need to build a secure and successful future.
Baroness Thornhill (LD)
My Lords, providers of support and housing for this vulnerable group need two things: funding from Homes England and accreditation from Ofsted. In a recent meeting with the YMCA, for Hertfordshire this time, I was told that all its development plans were on hold because of the lack of any announcement about any new funding streams from Homes England, leaving the sector completely in limbo. Can the Minister tell us why this is? In addition, it has been waiting since October 1923 to get Ofsted accreditation for a unit for 40 such vulnerable children.
Baroness Thornhill (LD)
Okay—a long time. Will the Minister please agree to look into this logjam and see whether she can be Dyno-Rod?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I am always happy to be Dyno-Rod, even when it goes back to 1923. I am not sure which programme the YMCA applied to, but at the Spring Statement we announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support the delivery of the big boost in social and affordable housebuilding that is necessary. As the noble Lord, Lord Austin, asked me to have a meeting with the YMCA, I think it would be very helpful to meet it and find out what it has experienced with this blockage to its funding. I hope we can do the Dyno-Rod job and get that freed up as quickly as possible.
Lord Laming (CB)
My Lords, what the Minister has said about children leaving care is very encouraging because a large number of children in care fall off a cliff, as it were, at the age of 18. We expect the most coping skills from the children who have had the least in life, particularly as the majority of children who grow up in what we call an ordinary family do not leave their home until very much later—their middle 20s. It is not just about putting a roof over the head of a child who has been in care; very often it is about providing a support mechanism so that they are not out in the world on their own. Can the Minister make sure that we recognise the wide range of needs of children who have been in care, because they have been deprived of what we would call a normal home life?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I agree with those comments. I remember, as a county councillor, fighting hard to get care leavers exempt from council tax, for example. We fund a number of programmes to support care leavers, including supporting young people in foster care to stay living with foster families in a family home up to the age of 21 through the Staying Put programme; increasing the number of young people leaving residential care who receive practical help with move-on accommodation, including ongoing support from a trusted key worker, through the Staying Close programme; and then providing extra support to local authorities to help those care leavers at the highest risk of rough sleeping. But there is always more we can do in this regard.
The Lord Bishop of Derby
My Lords, this feels very close to home. The BBC recently reported that the number of people who spent at least one night sleeping rough in Derby in 2024 was 63% higher than in 2023. In the Government’s annual rough sleeping snapshot, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government reported that 10% of everyone sleeping rough across the UK had left institutions such as prison. I welcome the announcement that councils across England will receive £1 billion of funding to reduce and prevent homelessness. As the Bishop with particular responsibility for youth offenders, I ask the Minister how her department intends to work with councils to ensure that sufficient investment is appropriately and effectively allocated specifically to support young adults who are leaving prison.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
The right reverend Prelate makes a key point about supporting young people leaving prison. We have provided an uplift of £192.9 million to the homelessness prevention grant, which brings the total funding up to £633 million, the largest investment in that grant since it began. We are also setting out our plans in relation to all types of homelessness and housing in a housing strategy that will come forward later in the year. The ministerial working group on homelessness is paying particular attention to homelessness among young people, because we know the long-term damage it can do.
Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)
My Lords, in light of the rising rates of youth homelessness, can the Minister let me know how much of the £1 billion grant that has gone to local authorities has been specifically directed to homelessness among young people—or has none of it been directed? If not, why not?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
We trust our colleagues in local government to direct money to where it is most needed. We will be looking, under the ministerial working group that is looking at homelessness, to see whether we need to take any further specific action on youth homelessness, but our colleagues in local government are very good at making sure they tackle the areas of most need in their local areas.