Homelessness

Simon Danczuk Excerpts

Tuesday 12th June 2012 Westminster Hall

[Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck) for securing this important debate on homelessness.

I have two basic reasons for wanting to speak in the debate. First, I have some knowledge of the subject, which I will touch on in a moment. Secondly, as has already been indicated, the increase in homelessness both locally in Rochdale—I will come to that—and across the country will have a devastating effect. As my hon. Friend pointed out, there is no doubt that the situation is getting worse.

I worked as a social researcher for about 10 years from 1997 until 2007. I started off with the Big Issue in the North, which is a homelessness agency and charity. From there, I went on to do lots of homelessness research projects across the country for a variety of agencies; for example, Crisis, the Rough Sleepers Unit, Shelter and local authorities such as Camden, Islington and many others. There is probably not an elected Member who has visited more homelessness projects than me right across the UK over a 10-year period.

I mention that because I made three significant observations while doing that research. First, it will not surprise anyone who has an interest in the subject to hear that homelessness is not just about housing; it is about drug treatment, mental health, alcohol and a whole range of different issues. We must not forget that. As we are now seeing, housing—the number of houses, flats and different types of accommodation provided—is critical, but it is not the only issue. That is my first observation.

From the research I have conducted, my second observation is about clustering. I have seen very little on that subject, but the clustering of homelessness services in a particular area for historical reasons is significant. Let me give three examples. In south Yorkshire—with the exception of Sheffield, which has many homelessness services—Doncaster has a lot of homelessness services, while Barnsley and Rotherham have very few. So Doncaster is an area where there is clustering in the provision of homelessness services. Another example is Blackburn, where there is a disproportionately high number of homelessness services. However, in Accrington, Burnley and other surrounding towns, there are fewer such services. Rochdale is another place where there is a high proportion of homelessness services, whereas the number in Bury and Oldham is disproportionately low.

The clustering of homelessness provision is important. I am not being partisan in saying that; I am making an important observation. We should either celebrate the fact that those towns and cities are providing homelessness services, hold them up as beacons and give them additional resources because they are carrying a disproportionate responsibility for homelessness in that sub-region, or we should try to ensure that local authorities who are not doing as much increase provision. It should be one or the other. That is an important observation that people have tended to miss in such debates.

By coincidence, I started social research into homelessness in 1997 and continued right up to 2007. My third observation is that, as has been pointed out, there is no doubt that the Labour Government were very successful during that time. First, they tackled the critical issue of rough sleeping. They appointed Louise Casey, who is a great civil servant, to deal with the problem. I am pleased that the Government have chosen her to lead the challenge on troubled families.

The Labour Government dramatically reduced rough sleeping, and they then moved on to the issue of bed- and-breakfast accommodation. Through a systematic approach, homelessness was reduced by 70% during the Labour Government. I am not being partisan about it; those are the facts. I studied the subject during that time and we could see homelessness reduced to the point that the Labour Government were moving on to try to address other issues, such as people in temporary accommodation and bed and breakfasts. As with unemployment, some people will always fall into homelessness. There is some inevitability about that, and people will inevitably find themselves sleeping rough on the streets. However, we can reduce the problem. The Labour Government did a fantastic job of reducing homelessness to somewhere near the lowest level it could be, and we should give them credit for that.

There is no doubt that homelessness is increasing again. The statistics and the facts show that we are going backwards. In 2011, homelessness increased by 14% and rough sleeping by 23%. As I mentioned, the number of houses being built is a significant problem. My hon. Friend the Member for Westminster North mentioned the Homes and Communities Agency figures. There has been a 68% reduction in the building of affordable houses in the past financial year. That, in addition to the cuts and the Government’s inability to get the economy going, is absolutely devastating news for the homeless.

I talked earlier about other factors that push people into homelessness. There has been an increase in unemployment, lower living standards and house repossessions, all of which move people toward homelessness. As a consequence, the number of people who are homeless and sleeping rough is increasing. My hon. Friend mentioned benefits. This morning I spoke with Dennis Skelton, the co-ordinator of Petrus, a Rochdale-based homelessness charity. Shared-room rents and the reduction of housing benefit are a massive concern, and perpetuate the problem of increased homelessness.

Homelessness is not just a national issue; cuts to local government and related agencies are having a significant impact. Drug treatment provision is being cut. Provision for mental health services, hostels and day care centres is being stretched. Homeless Link’s most recent survey shows that the number of clients using homeless day centres has risen by nearly a third. On average, there are 22% fewer empty beds in emergency accommodation for homeless people, per night. Charities, voluntary groups and other agencies that support and provide assistance to homeless people are being affected by the cuts. We are seeing a return to the 1980s, with more people sleeping rough, more people going into bed and breakfast, and more people sofa-surfing. That is the reality of how the Government’s policies are affecting people at the bottom of the pile who are struggling and finding things really difficult.

We should not politicise or play politics with homelessness. In May 2008, before he was Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) said:

“I think that it is simply a disgrace that in the fifth-biggest economy in the world that we have people homeless, people sleeping on the streets, sofa-surfers, people in hospitals.”

He said it was a disgrace. The problem with playing politics with this type of issue is becoming a hostage to fortune. He made those comments when the previous Government had taken radical steps forward to reduce homelessness and it was probably at an all-time low. In 2012, as Prime Minister he is overseeing a dramatic increase in homelessness, yet he is doing very little to stop the problem. In fact, all indications suggest that it will get worse. There are no indications that the problem will stop.

According to research undertaken by Shelter last year, my constituency of Rochdale is the 10th-worst place in the country for repossessions. In December 2010, 53 people presented to the local authority as homeless. In December 2011, the number had gone up to 160—a 200% increase, and the biggest rise in Greater Manchester. We are seeing real problems. Thirteen local agencies that provide homelessness services have had their contracts cut, and their services are being reduced. More people going into bed and breakfast in Manchester and Burnley are being placed outside the borough.

I am not saying that the council has got it exactly right. It has had a very difficult time, with one of the worst settlements from central Government, compared with some of the more leafy suburbs in Conservative-controlled local authorities in the south of England. Where we have poverty and difficulty, we have seen some of the worst cuts to local authorities; Rochdale is an example. The council has removed the ring-fence from the Supporting People programme budget and it has been salami-slicing homelessness budgets, so it has not got it exactly right. I am happy to be critical of the local authority—even a Labour-controlled authority; it should have awarded more contracts to local charities, which have a better grass-roots understanding of homelessness, yet some contracts have been awarded to national homeless charities. That is a mistake, but there is no doubt that Rochdale council, like many other local authorities, is operating in an exceptionally difficult climate that has been created by the Government. If the Government are genuinely serious about tackling homelessness—there are no indications yet that they are—they have to do something radically different to get on top of the issue.