10
Rejected
Tackling rough sleeping on its own without addressing homelessness as a whole may even worsen...
Recommendation
Tackling rough sleeping on its own without addressing homelessness as a whole may even worsen other measures of homelessness, if it means only placing more people in temporary accommodation, thereby adding to the number of homeless households.29 Baroness Casey told us that, in her opinion, not only was a review of the Rough Sleeping Strategy still needed, but there should be a more expansive review which took into account “wider aspects of homelessness, particularly families in temporary accommodation”.30 This would be in line with both the previous recommendations of this Committee and the Department’s commitments in response. In 2017 this Committee recommended that the Department “publish a cross-government strategy for reducing […] all measures of homelessness”.31 The Department accepted this recommendation, announcing its plans to publish a strategy for rough sleeping as only a first step, and promising subsequently to “develop a broader strategy to ensure progress is made on wider issues relating to all forms of homelessness and homelessness prevention”.32 It has yet to implement this commitment. That the Department’s 2024 target is explicitly framed as ending rough sleeping implies not just the housing of all those on the streets at a particular point in time, but a long-term, sustainable reduction in factors which have historically caused people to start sleeping 22 Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Rough Sleeping Strategy, August 2018, Cm 9685, para 1. 23 Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, “Prime Minister pledges new action to eliminate homelessness and rough sleeping”, press release, 23 December 2019. 24 C&AG’s Report, para 2.21. 25 Q 14. 26 C&AG’s Report, para 2.21. 27 C&AG’s Report, para 18. 28 Qq 70–71. 29 House of Commons Library, Statutory homelessness in England, Briefing Paper 01164, 26 November 2020, p 3. 30 Q 67. 31 Public Accounts Committee, Homeless households, Eleventh Report of Session 2017–19, HC 462, Decem
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation for a more expansive review covering wider aspects of homelessness, instead stating its commitment to ending rough sleeping and considering underlying causes with cross-government partners. It will also consider a definition of ending rough sleeping.
Government Response
Rejected
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation, although it will be important to ensure sufficient time for the development of the new strategy and to align with the forthcoming 2021 Spending Review. 2.3 The government is fully committed to ending rough sleeping within this Parliament and has already made considerable progress in the last few years to reduce rough sleeping. Much of this work provided the capacity to deliver the Everyone In response both locally and nationally. The department’s annual statistics published on the 25 February 2021 show the number of people sleeping rough fell for the third year in a row, the largest decrease since these were first recorded in 2010 and a 43% decrease since 2017. 2.4 Nonetheless, the department is clear that to end rough sleeping there is a need for further cross government action to address the underlying causes of rough sleeping. The department will be working with partners across government and the sector to build on recent progress and consider what more needs to be done to end rough sleeping. The department will consider the role of health, policing, prisons, immigration, welfare, and employment, alongside housing and how the department will build on the already significant success of Everyone In. 2.5 As the Committee suggests, the department will consider a definition of what it means to end rough sleeping, including information about how this goal will be measured and evaluated.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry
COVID-19: Housing rough sleepers
Report
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing people sleeping rough
17 Mar 2021
HC 934
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
5.4 yrs
Report published
17 Mar 2021