Rough Sleeping and Hard Economics

Ben Wildsmith 

Andy Burnham’s pledge to end rough sleeping in England by Christmas represents a boldness in office that contrasts sharply with the seeming aimlessness of his predecessor.

Allocating £442 million to the drive, the Prime Minister is echoing a commitment made by Jeremy Corbyn when he led Labour, something which will have been noted by all wings of the party.

It came in a week when briefings suggested that licenses are likely to be granted for renewed oil and gas development in the North Sea. The decision on that has been postponed so that it isn’t made against a backdrop of wildfires and drought, but the absence of a firm denial is telling.

Taken together, this positioning indicates that Burnham is willing to run Labour from a position that isn’t factionally rooted. Neither the Corbynite left nor Blairite right of the party will be wholly satisfied by this week’s developments, but Burnham’s political capital is such that they will have to suck it up.

Keir Starmer’s modus operandi involved staking a bold claim for the right of the party over issues like winter fuel payments and then capitulating in the face of opposition from the left. Burnham is attempting to dole out rewards to both sides without being identified with either. It’s all very Harold Wilson and requires personal popularity to sustain.

The rough sleeping pledge is, no surprises, rooted in the PM’s experience in Manchester. The Housing First programme, which involves housing rough sleepers directly into permanent accommodation with a package of support, achieved significant success whilst Burnham was Mayor.

Critics have pointed to a subsequent rise in rough sleeping, but this can credibly be attributed to superior services acting as a pull factor for homeless people relocating to the city.

An awkward truth about the Manchester approach to homelessness, and much else during Burnham’s tenure there, is that it was generously funded by the levelling-up scheme that Boris Johnson had Michael Gove implement.

Housing First schemes exist across the UK, including here in Wales, but none have been funded as generously as that in Manchester. Crucially, the extra funding allowed for specialist dual diagnosis workers to be embedded within homelessness services, breaking through the wall that often exists between people with addiction issues and the help they need to address underlying issues.

Whilst the provision of housing is the most obvious function of homelessness services it is only a beginning, particularly in the treatment of those who are entrenched on the streets.

Mistrustful

This cohort are routinely blocked from health services of all kinds because of behavioural difficulties and are often mistrustful of officialdom to the point of alienation.

It is the work of years, sometimes decades, to repair the social contract with people who have typically been let down by society from early childhood. It is a costly business, but not as expensive or futile as devolving the problem to the prison service, as is too often the case.

Homelessness services here in Wales are complex, with provision in rural areas requiring specialist solutions that are less replicable from general models.

The strategy implemented in Cardiff during the pandemic was decisive, aiming to use the experience of housing everybody quickly as a springboard to permanent policy rather than a temporary measure.

The rapid construction of managed apartment blocks, where vulnerable residents have access to staff, has offered an alternative to the traditional hostel model, fostering a route towards independence.

No Barnett differential

So, good things are happening in this sector in Wales, but there is something for the Welsh government to ponder in Burnham’s announcement. The money allocated for this has been reallocated from existing housing budgets, meaning that no Barnett differential will be triggered for Wales.

The Manchester model, however, was only possible because of levelling-up funds provided under the Johnson government.

If Wales is not to fall behind England in addressing this harrowing and highly visible social problem, our government needs to be explicit about the funding challenges it faces.

Can a similar reorganisation of existing housing budgets be achieved here? If not, then this emblematic Burnham policy might be the one around which to hang a case for a new financial settlement from the UK government.

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