Are we there yet?

Under the act, which came into force on 31 July last year, councils have to draw up homelessness strategies that give statutory and voluntary agencies the chance to get together and address the issues in what the homelessness directorate at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister calls "a broader basis". Ian Brady, who is assistant director of the directorate and handles its rough sleepers brief, says: "The act has led to a change in relationships between charities and local authorities. Charities have become closer to local authorities."

Neil O'Connor (pictured below) is Brady's fellow assistant director at the directorate.

He says: "The legislation has reordered the prioritisation of vulnerable people to ensure that homeless people who most need help get it when they need it. It has broken down the barriers that left many single homeless people to be looked after by the voluntary sector."

For Andy Gale, housing needs manager at Harrow council, the mere existence of the directorate shows the government is finally giving homelessness the recognition it deserves despite a reduction in rough-sleeper numbers – from 1850 in June 1998 to less than 600 in 2003, according to the ODPM – making the issue less visible.

The changing view from Westminster
Campaigners, though, fear that public and political attention has shifted away from vulnerable single homeless people. "I think we're standing at a crossroads," warns Crisis chief executive Shaks Ghosh (pictured below). "A while ago, the overarching policy was about tackling social exclusion; now, I worry that the policy coming out of government is more about tackling antisocial behaviour. Also, as a public issue, it seems as though it's up to key workers to keep housing at the top of the agenda. If it's all about key workers, that's a worry."

Anthony Lawton, chief executive of Centrepoint, adds that "certain parts of the homeless are extremely unfashionable with the voters". He continues: "The first responsibility for what is done by local government lies with local communities and voters. Homelessness is a manifestation of social exclusion – key workers are not. I'd be worried that there is a shift away from social exclusion."

Shelter's Adam Sampson agrees. "Rough sleepers have disappeared and key workers are the new 'sexy' face of homelessness and housing issues," he says. "We have to remind government that, in responding to rough sleeping, the government has only just responded to a symptom of homelessness." The charities, however, deny that donations have decreased with the reduction in rough sleepers.

Just another strategy?
As much as campaigners lobbied for the legislation – and laudable though the government's intentions are – many local authorities feel the act burdens them with yet more work that may achieve less than hoped. "Harrow has 50-60 strategies to cope with," says housing needs manager Andy Gale. "How do you prevent the homelessness strategy from being just one more?"

Another criticism within the sector is that perhaps the government was short-sighted in agreeing that the strategies are reviewed only every five years. "It's the sort of strategy that, once you've pulled it together, only then do you realise that much more needs to be done, explains Gale. "It is just a starting point."

But, asks Adam Sampson (pictured below) if the country's 350 councils need guidance on pulling their strategies together and monitoring their impact, won't the homelessness directorate's eight dedicated staff be a little overstretched? No, say Brady and O'Connor: the government offices are also involved in monitoring the strategies, and the Audit Commission will be inspecting them. "We have to trust local authorities to take a strategic lead," O'Connor adds. "The voluntary sector has a role in contributing to the delivery and monitoring of that and we have a role in looking at what outcomes are achieved and how performance can be improved." In fact, Shelter has hired 30 staff to advise councils on strategies, but funding for these posts runs out at the end of the year – potentially leaving councils that need help high and dry.

B&B – not easy as 1-2-3
By next March, councils are not supposed to place families with children in bed and breakfasts for more than six weeks unless in an emergency. Brady and O'Connor of the homelessness directorate say good progress has been made – in March 2003, there were 12,200 households in bed-and-breakfast hotels, which is 420 fewer than in December 2002 – and the government is on course to hit the target.

Although this policy is not part of the Homelessness Act, it is causing some disquiet. Andy Gale says the bed and breakfast target has been "a catalyst" but adds that housing policy-makers are missing a trick if they concentrate solely on families. Shaks Ghosh agrees. "How come really damaged single homeless people are not part of that target? You have a target and you put all your efforts into meeting that target but it ignores other things. If an issue doesn't have a target with a critical date and resources attached, it won't have urgency." Anthony Lawton (pictured below), chief executive of charity Centrepoint, adds: "In local government, we know, something that is made an obligation will get done first."

The vacancies left by families moving out of bed and breakfasts are being filled by teenagers, Lawton says. "That's two steps back and one step forward. It's an example of how targets can have unintended and worrying consequences." But aren't such criticisms a little mean-spirited, asks Adam Sampson? "The government has committed itself to a target, it's going to get damn close to hitting it. It's a positive example."

Getting in with the boards
Like the rest of the housing sector, homelessness workers want to know what the priorities of the new regional housing boards will be – and how they will liaise with everyone else. "I've been asking the ODPM how we get to speak to these boards," says Sampson. "There may be mechanisms, and it may be that those mechanisms become adopted but, as far as I'm aware, the answer is essentially that there will be minimal guidance given to the boards as to what it is they're supposed to do."

Will homelessness organisations have a voice on the boards? Brady and O'Connor reassure the charity chief executives that the government has issued guidance to all the boards on national investment priorities, including boosting the supply of affordable housing to reduce homelessness. "It's now down to discussion at regional level as to how much homelessness is a priority," says Brady (pictured below). "There are opportunities for local authorities and voluntary agencies to make representations. The directorate is part of the ODPM and regional housing boards make their investment recommendations to the ODPM, so we have input and can advise on those recommendations."

In London, the directorate is a member of the homelessness subgroup of the housing board along with various voluntary and statutory sector organisations. This model is one Brady and O'Connor want to see replicated in the other eight regions.

Where next?
Voluntary agencies and local authorities lobbied hard to get the Homelessness Act passed, but they all stress that its arrival does not mean housing campaigners can sit back. Far from it, says Ghosh, who raises an alarm over the lack of joint working between housing departments and social services on treating vulnerable homeless people.

Gale (pictured below) believes that the act should be regarded as a starting point. "It is a watershed, now we need to go further. A lot more needs to be done on single homelessness. Otherwise, all we are doing is playing one housing group in need off against another – what about the asylum seekers, the hidden homeless?" Is there anything he would do differently? "It should be less about legislation and duties and more about dissemination of good practice."

The other five all agree on the last point – a year on from the act, it is vital that those councils running successful projects to house new priority-need groups share the secrets of their success. The voluntary sector has to play a greater role in highlighting and passing on good practice. But overall, the feeling is tentatively upbeat. As Sampson says: "It's too early to tell if the act will be the step change in policy that we've hoped for, but the initial indications are positive."