Supplementary memorandum by Westminster
City Council (HOM 38(a))
Thank you for providing Westminster City Council
with the opportunity to present evidence at the Committee's hearing
on 30 November. The City Council has three main areas of concern
in tackling homelessness, which I wish to briefly outline again
for you.
We believe that the current system of funding
temporary accommodation through Housing Benefit creates a poverty
trap for residents. It is also an inefficient use of public resources.
By paying tenants Housing Benefit at a rate equivalent to a social
rent, with the remainder funded through direct Government grant
to local authorities, the impact of loss of benefit when a tenant
takes up employment would be greatly reduced.
The City Council is currently undertaking research
into the employment barriers faced by homeless clients in temporary
accommodation, including an impact assessment of funding changes.
I will forward a copy of the results when these are published
in the New Year.
Local connection rules mean that households
can insist on permanent accommodation in the borough where a housing
duty is accepted. With social housing investment increasingly
being directed to regional growth areas, Westminster believes
that local connection rules will need to be reviewed to enable
effective regional mobility.
Rough sleeping continues to command our attention.
Despite our best efforts, the number of rough sleepers has not
come down to anything near an acceptable level. As we said in
our evidence, every week for every 15 people helped off the streets,
14 more take their place and 42 people new to rough sleeping arrive.
We welcome the ODPM investment and commitment
to working with us in partnership on this issue. Such support
will need to continue as we move to a building-based approach
to service provision in April 2005. We are confident that this
move will enable us both to reduce the number of people on the
streets and continue to provide a level of care required by the
most vulnerable.
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