new ambition for all hostels to provide access to support, training and employment within the next three years to help end persistent rough sleeping, was announced today by Housing Minister Iain Wright. The Minister published an action plan to reduce rough sleeping to as close to zero as possible, with new measures to help those who have remained entrenched on the streets.
He announced a new aspiration for hostels to provide access to training and employment opportunities, supported by the £160 million the Government has put in place to refurbish hostels and improve their services by 2011. The Minister invited stakeholders involved in rough sleeping to join in the discussion on a package of measures to underpin the strategy, including:
* A renewed drive to identify and engage with the most persistent rough sleepers to get them off the streets and into a more stable environment, minimising the risk of falling back into old routines and old patterns of dependency. Groups such as older drinkers have historically been harder to reach and new models may be needed to get them in off the streets, such as personalised support.
* Universal access to skills programmes in hostels to develop an individual's talents and boost their confidence in stepping up and out of insecurity and dependency. The Government's £160 million investment in projects to reduce rough sleeping also includes an academy in London, which will provide former rough sleepers with opportunities to develop skills in areas of employment as diverse as restaurant management to cookery skills.
* A new London homeless taskforce, bringing together the Government, the voluntary sector and local authorities to better tackle rough sleeping. These key players will help to put the right solutions in place for people with complex needs, preventing them slipping through the net and back onto the streets. It will have a pan-London focus to effectively tackle rough sleeping across the capital.
* The provision of 500 units of private rented accommodation in London to enable those who are ready to move out of hostels, but still need some level of support, to live independently. This will free up hostel spaces for those coming in from the cold and help prevent hostels 'silting up' with those who are ready to make the next step.
* Increased working across government to ensure the one stop shops can provide tangible, practical support across a range of homeless issues. As well as providing skills the hostels will provide specific support for those in need, for example making sure that those with dependencies such as drugs or alcohol have access to the services they need.
Whilst huge progress has been made reducing the number of rough sleepers from 1,800 in 1997 to around 500 on any given night, the challenge now is help the remaining persistent rough sleepers make a permanent move away from the streets, especially in London. Some have been in a 'revolving door of homelessness' entering hostels dozens of times a year but coming back onto the streets only days later.