Homelessness (Crisis Report)

Kris Hopkins Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2015 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (Mr Newmark) for securing this debate on such an important issue. I want to recognise his work, as well as that of my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Sarah Newton), in support of local charities. Their contribution to the debate raises the profile of homelessness and ensures that it remains in the public’s consciousness. It is important to the Government, and tackling homelessness and rough sleeping remains a key priority for us. At the beginning of this Parliament, we made available some £500 million. As a direct consequence of that contribution to tackling homelessness, we managed to prevent some 700,000 people from becoming homeless.

There is no doubt that being homeless affects every aspect of a person’s life. No one should be in such a frightening situation, especially not some of society’s most vulnerable people. Quite often, individual life circumstances create the situation, so it is important that the Government put in place prevention measures and attempt to help such individuals and mitigate the situation.

A housing crisis could happen to anyone at any time. The lucky ones have the resilience to cope with it and, perhaps, the resources to get back on their feet. However, that is of course not always the case. Some vulnerable people struggle to find their way out and become trapped in the cycle of homelessness. As we have seen today, the consequences can be severe. I know that both my hon. Friends have dealt with cases as Members of Parliament and sought to help. I appreciate that. Every MP will have similar experience. Homelessness is not a partisan issue, and I would appreciate a cross-Government response to put in place the right resources to address these vulnerable people’s needs.

[Sarah Newton]

The Minister is right to talk about vulnerable people, young ones in particular, and to say that cross-governmental work is required. In the next Parliament further changes to housing benefit will be considered, especially on shared occupancy. Does he agree that just as we are exempting care leavers, because we understand their particular vulnerability, we should also consider exempting young 16, 17 or 18-year-olds who present to local authorities as homeless, so that they have the best chance of getting supported accommodation and the necessary support to get themselves back on their own two feet and participating fully in society?

[Kris Hopkins]

There has been great debate about some of the challenges we face on the benefits bill, and a future Government will deal with that, whichever party comes to power. My hon. Friend and I, and others, will make a powerful case on the grounds that she has just mentioned.

For those vulnerable people, the services provided by local authorities and voluntary sector partners are a lifeline. I recognise the hard work and dedication of so many people, for whom this is not just a job; it is a vocation. I have been to see individuals who give an enormous amount of time to provide support and care to those vulnerable people.

Housing supply is an important factor, and I reassure colleagues that that is another key priority. We should be proud of what we have done to deliver some 217,000 affordable homes in England since April 2010. That includes £19.5 billion of public and private investment through our affordable homes programme, which will deliver 170,000 new homes by the end of March this year, in a few days’ time. Over the next five years another £38 billion of public and private investment will provide a further 275,000 new affordable homes between 2015 and 2020. Over the next Parliament, we will therefore build more new affordable homes than during any equivalent period in the past 20 years. We should be proud that we have sought to ensure such provision. A lot remains to be done, but bearing in mind the economic circumstances, it is important that we have made that commitment.

I will say a few words about statutory and youth homelessness before coming on to Crisis, which my hon. Friend the Member for Braintree discussed. Despite the difficult economic circumstances, statutory homelessness is significantly lower than it was during its peak period under the previous Government. I do not want to paint an over-rosy picture—we should be realistic about where we are—but the Government have maintained the strong safety net, protected in law, to ensure that families and vulnerable people have a roof over their head. The Government have therefore increased investment in homelessness services over the lifetime of the Parliament, including the £500 million I mentioned.

We have done much to support homeless people. Recently I addressed and listened to members of the Youth Homeless Parliament, who met here in Westminster. Many spoke with passion about their circumstances. Such a dialogue between users of our services, charities and Members of Parliament can shape the services. As a direct consequence of engagement that I have had, a new £15 million fair chance fund will affect the lives of some 1,600 homeless and NEET—those not in education, employment or training—18 to 25-year-olds. It is about targeting money at specific groups.

Another vulnerable group that we wanted to help were those suffering from domestic violence. A £10 million package was initiated for them by the Prime Minister, who wanted to intervene to ensure that we had sufficient capacity to stop refuges closing, and adequate local authority provision to protect vulnerable victims of domestic abuse and their families. Some 148 areas across England will benefit from that resource, which will be rolled out over the next two years.

[Mr Newmark]

With violence and abuse, one of the issues for many young people, unfortunately, is that they are forced to return to the area where they are from in order to get housing, even though that is the very environment in which they suffered the abuse. It would be good if the Government had a little more flexibility, in particular when dealing with young people subjected to a violent upbringing. The authorities should not have to say to them, “The only place you can get your housing is back where you suffered abuse.”

[Kris Hopkins]

Our local authorities have an obligation to ensure that such children, very young people in particular, are safe. My hon. Friend is right: they should not be placed back where they might be vulnerable. He makes a good point, and I am sure that over the coming weeks and months he will continue to make the case, and that he will shape policy.

As the Minister with responsibility for homelessness, I believe that one area that was neglected for many years was single homelessness and rough sleeping. We should be proud of what we have done about rough sleepers through, for example, “No Second Night Out”, and to ensure that the public are involved. The public want to participate, and we have given them some of the mechanisms necessary to do so. They should be proud of their contribution and the amount of it.

[Mr Newmark]

I appreciate that time is running out, and all the responses that the Minister is giving. For a young male between 16 and 24, it is particularly difficult to get any form of housing. That is a challenge, and although I understand why it is challenging, we need to address that. If we do not find support and housing for that group, it might unfortunately lead to greater problems further along in their lives.

[Kris Hopkins]

I only have a few minutes left, so I will pick up on a couple of issues, the first of which is about breaking the cycle that single homeless people find themselves in. How do we get them into employment, if that is possible? How do we give them a stable home to build their lives on?

One of our interventions has been to work with Crisis, which my hon. Friend has mentioned several times. We provided some £14 million of funding to Crisis to enable it to run a project providing access to the private rented sector, which has been a real success. The idea is to help some 10,000 single homeless people to access and sustain privately rented accommodation by 2016. We know that 90% sustain such accommodation for at least six months. It is about giving continuity to those individuals. It is important that we get provision right, and that we give those people who have been trapped in a cycle the opportunity to get themselves away from abuse, drugs and alcohol, putting them in a safe environment so that they can build their lives again with support.

Only a minute or so is left, so I want to put on record my thanks to individuals in the Department for Communities and Local Government. We should not ignore the fact that in the DCLG we have a huge wealth of knowledge—and it is not isolated knowledge that simply sits inside the Department; it is about outreach and understanding the complex issues associated with rough sleeping and homelessness. The Department can be extremely proud.

We should also recognise what local authorities, including the Greater London authority, do. Westminster’s Councillor Robathan has been leading on homelessness and, bearing in mind the complex issues in the borough, she should be applauded, as should Richard Blakeway at the GLA, who has been leading on the issue for some time. We should also say, however, that some authorities are not getting it right. I look to the GLA and other strong local authorities to offer leadership and direction to the weaker authorities that have not always picked up their responsibilities.

I am sure that the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government will participate on the issue in future. I hope that Members will ensure that homelessness and rough sleeping stay in the public consciousness, and that the next Government provide an equally responsible response.