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Councils have ‘urgent’ concerns over Homelessness Reduction Act delays
London council leaders have “urgent concerns” over delayed government guidance on the Homelessness Reduction Act.
Sir Steve Bullock, executive member for housing at London Councils and mayor of Lewisham Council, said in a letter to homelessness minister Marcus Jones that with only seven months until the Homelessness Reduction Act comes into force, councils are still waiting for “much delayed information”. This includes a promised code of guidance from government and “detailed” funding allocations, he said.
London Councils has said if the guidance and allocations are not published soon, the act should be delayed until September 2018.
Mr Jones wrote to councils last month to say that the formula for how the £61m funding will be distributed is being finalised and allocations will be announced in the autumn, with the first payments expected to be made in the winter.
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In his letter this week, Sir Steve said: “We are happy to honour the intentions of the act by providing expanded services that address the full range of factors in people’s lives that can lead to them becoming homeless.
“However, we have urgent concerns about the way the Homelessness Reduction Act is being implemented. I am sure that you agree that it would be an outrage if the act’s landmark reforms, which rightly received cross-party support, failed to reduce homelessness due to a lack of proper planning and unrealistic funding arrangements from government.”
Sir Steve said without further information from government, councils in London cannot recruit extra staff or make changes to services in preparation for an increased number of homelessness applications. He said it “may already be too late” to make any necessary changes in time for next April.
London councils are also concerned that the capital’s boroughs will not receive “more than a fraction” of the £61m funding. Councils are expected to provide higher levels of support from April next year but Sir Steve said they had already experienced a 60% cut to their funding since 2010.
He added: “Therefore it is for government to provide local authorities with additional funding to run these important new services.”
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Sir Steve also said the government should remove the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap to “drive the success” of the Homelessness Reduction Act. Sir Steve said the “restrictions” that had been placed on LHA rates mean that it is “increasingly insufficient” to meet the cost of renting in London and this has been a “significant driver” of homelessness.
Under the new legislation councils will have to intervene to prevent homelessness 56 days beforehand and they will have to support those who previously were not considered in priority need, such as single people. It will also be easier for people applying for support from the council to appeal a decision that denies them support.
DCLG has been approached for comment.
