Press Release

Mayor remains on track to end rough sleeping by 2012
18-11-2009   583

Two-thirds of the capital’s most entrenched rough sleepers are now off the streets, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced today.

The Mayor is committed to ending rough sleeping in London by 2012 and in February this year, set up his London Delivery Board, whose first action was to work with 205 of the most entrenched rough sleepers.

The 205 individuals were identified as a priority by the Board as they represent the most difficult homeless group to reach. They have typically been homeless for at least five years, have refused or have been failed by repeated interventions to help them off the streets, and are often affected by a complex set of problems, including drug addiction and mental health issues. 

138 long-term rough sleepers are now off the streets and the Board, chaired by the Mayor’s Housing Advisor, Richard Blakeway, plans to help the remaining 67 still on the streets into accommodation by next Spring. It has already started to look at expanding this success to other people affected by sleeping rough in London.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:
“The London Delivery Board’s decision to focus first on those worst affected by homelessness in the capital has been hugely successful. Persuading long-term rough sleepers to come into, and stay in, accommodation is notoriously difficult. So to see just a third remaining on the streets only six months after the board began its work is a tremendous achievement for everyone involved.
“It is completely unacceptable for anyone to end up with only the street for a home in 21st century London.  The board is doing a superb job but this is just the beginning of its work. We continue to face the challenge of people arriving onto the streets, often following a combination of financial and personal disasters. What we now need to do is build on this success and redouble efforts to tackle the flow of new rough sleepers and reduce the number of former rough sleepers returning to the street through health and job opportunities.”

Jeremy Swain, Thames Reach Chief Executive, said:  “I am delighted that the Delivery Board has encouraged street outreach teams to find new, imaginative ways of helping London’s most vulnerable and chaotic rough sleepers to leave the street behind for good. The teams have risen to the challenge magnificently and we should all celebrate the fact that these men and women, who for years have faced the ignominy of sleeping on cardboard and under thin blankets in shop doorways, are now receiving support and help in hostels and other accomodation.  We won’t be satisfied until the final 67 people are also helped off the street, but with the momentum created by the Delivery Board partnership, a 100% success rate is eminently achievable over the coming months.”

Charles Fraser, chief executive of St Mungo’s, London’s largest charity for homeless people, said: “We welcome the emphasis which the Mayor has placed on tackling the “stock” of rough sleepers - those who have been longest on the streets. Progress has been encouraging, and we stand ready to help in whatever way we can to make it last, and indeed to extend it.

“Reducing the numbers is important. Even more crucial, however, is the Government’s commitment to tackling their exceptional rates of ill health and of unemployment, and we hope that a similar level of resource - and sense of urgency - will be applied to make this happen.”

Jim Barber, Assistant Director of Housing at the City of London said: "The City is fully committed to the Mayor's target to end rough sleeping by 2012. We continue to work very hard, in partnership with our outreach provider Broadway and the Police, with all rough sleepers including the most entrenched. We aim to deliver practical support which will help people turn their lives around rather than simply change their immediate situation. There have been many success stories this year, but we have a lot of work to do to build on this success."

Cllr Philippa Roe, Westminster Council's cabinet member for housing, said: "Long-term rough sleepers often have very complex needs and these figures show that a joined up approach across London is working.  

 "Working with our partners, we aim to help people off the streets as quickly as possible and into accommodation, where they can start to get their lives back on track with access to healthcare, specialist support and employment advice.

"While we know that in the current economic it won't be easy we will continue to work hard to further reduce the rough sleeping population and focus our resources on those who are hardest to reach.  We will also continue to focus on preventing those who are new to the streets from becoming entrenched rough sleepers." 

Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “The London Delivery Board and the local authorities and agencies working with it have made a good start. Everybody who is helped off the streets is a life improved and it is particularly important to see some of those who have been sleeping rough the longest with the greatest needs being helped to come in off the streets. The task now is to ensure that those individuals are given all the support and opportunities they need to move away from homelessness for good.  And for all of us involved in the Delivery Board we now need to bring the same focus and joined-up approach to tackling the big challenges that remain so we really are in a position to end rough sleeping for good.”

The London Delivery Board brings together for the first time key stakeholders who are all committed to ending rough sleeping the capital. The board has workstreams focusing on skills and employment, health, migrant rough sleeping, voluntary sector issues, policing and borough issues.

Notes to Editors

1. The Mayor’s commitment to end rough sleeping, outlined in his draft London Housing Strategy, takes forward the vision of the national strategy to bring rough sleeping to an end. 
2. The following organisations have representatives on the London Delivery Board: City of London, City of Westminster, Communities and Local Government, Crisis, Jobcentre Plus, Greater London Authority, Homeless Link, LB Camden, LB Hammersmith and Fulham, LB Kensington and Chelsea, LB Southwark, LB Tower Hamlets, LB Lambeth, London Development Agency, Mayor's Office, Metropolitan Police, Ministry of Justice, NHS London, St Mungo’s, Thames Reach, United Kingdom Borders Agency, National Offender Management Service  - plus LB Brent, Department of Work and Pensions
3. For further information on the London Delivery Board and the Mayor’s commitment to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2012 please go to www.london.gov.uk/mayor/publications
4. The government’s rough sleeping strategy ‘No One Left out –Communities ending rough sleeping’ was published by Communities and Local Government in November 2008 and can be found at www.communities.gov.uk    
5. Official counts suggest that there are 250 rough sleepers on London streets on any one night and that over the course of a year 3,500 people will sleep rough in the capital. Records tell us that roughly 87 per cent of people contacted by outreach teams are male and many have problems relating to drugs (41 per cent), alcohol (49 per cent) and mental health (35 per cent) with around a quarter having a combination of these problems. People who have been in prison or the care system are over represented.
6. The number of rough sleepers on London’s streets rose by 15 per cent in 2008/09 when the approximately 3,500 people were recorded as sleeping rough on the capital’s streets – almost half of the national total.  However almost 60 per cent of those who were new rough sleepers with more than half only being seen once on the streets. This reflects the success of organisations working in the capital at turning people around and helping them get off the streets quickly and reconnect with their old lives.

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