The Government’s much-anticipated Ending Rough Sleeping for Good, which sets out a framework and funds (£2bn over three years) to end rough sleeping by 2024 in England, was published earlier this month. Whilst there is lots that we welcome in the new Strategy, including a focus on prevention and a recognition of the high rates of rough sleeping amongst people in migrant communities and the unique needs and challenges this group faces, it stops short of being the bold and courageous vision needed to truly end rough sleeping for good, for everyone.
Bridget Young, NACCOM’s Director, commented:
“NACCOM and our members firmly believe that any strategy to end rough sleeping for all will fail unless proper consideration is given to addressing the complex and wide-ranging drivers behind migrant homelessness, many of which result from poor and, in some cases, deliberately harmful immigration policies.
As it is, we feel that whilst the Strategy signals vital progress in some areas, its scope – and ultimately its ability to deliver on the Conservative manifesto pledge to end rough sleeping – remains hampered by the Government’s deeply flawed approach to asylum and immigration.
We welcome the commitment to ‘exhaust all options within the law’ to provide homelessness support to people with restricted eligibility, but we’re concerned that without additional statutory powers and ring-fenced funds to do this, there is no guarantee that Local Authorities will be in a position to deliver this vital support. The Strategy also ignores the fundamental problem of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) restriction as a major driver of homelessness and destitution in migrant communities, with the focus remaining on intervention, rather than prevention, putting it out of step with the wider strategic approach to ending rough sleeping.
We’re encouraged by the commitment to bring much-needed reform the Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS) and to review the effects of the asylum dispersal system on Local Authorities. We hope these signal a broader, renewed approach by the Government to finding cross-departmental solutions to migrant homelessness – something that is desperately needed. We urge the Government to engage in meaningful dialogue with the charity sector and people with lived experience as part of this process.
We need to be clear though that until all of the root causes of homelessness in migrant communities are tackled head-on, we will continue to see people in the immigration and asylum system forced to endure periods of rough sleeping.”
Why is the 'Ending Rough Sleeping for Good' Strategy important for NACCOM's work?
NACCOM is the No Accommodation Network, a network of over 135 member organisations across the UK dedicated to ending destitution amongst refugees, people seeking asylum or who have been refused asylum and migrants with no recourse to public funds (NRPF).
Our network exists to ensure that the causes of, impacts of, and solutions to, homelessness and destitution are understood; that more policies and practice exist to support the end to destitution; and that more and better services exist to support people out of immediate destitution and provide long-term pathways out of destitution.
We are acutely aware of the ways that policies developed by Government, including the Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), can act as direct and indirect drivers of homelessness amongst people seeking asylum and other migrants. We also know that the impact of these policies is particularly strong amongst those with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) – such as people seeking asylum who have become appeal rights exhausted – who are unable to access homelessness assistance and social housing because of their immigration status.
As we explain in our briefing, despite several positive commitments introduced in ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’, we do not believe the Government’s target to end rough sleeping by 2024 will be achieved unless further action is taken to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping amongst migrants.
Our Briefing:
Our comprehensive briefing outlines:
➡️ What’s in the Strategy
➡️ How the Strategy approaches ending rough sleeping in migrant communities
➡️ What the Strategy gets right
➡️ The limitations of the Strategy
➡️ Key recommendations and insights from NACCOM
