Homelessness charities cautiously welcomed the drop in street homeless numbers.
But a spokesman for the Simon Community, while claiming the charity had “no wish to see the RSU vilified”, called for an investigation into the unit’s latest headcount.
An all-night party at a London hostel – where residents were invited to bring their predominantly street homeless friends – may have distorted the figures, he explained.
“We believe that these practices have led to an artificially low number of people being counted, and – if allegations of police harassment are true – that the RSU is abusing the rights of those sleeping rough in order to hit its target of reducing the number by two-thirds.”
It is understood that some rough sleepers allege they were threatened with jail if they did not go to hostels.
Crisis chief executive Shaks Ghosh warned that many rough sleepers had simply slipped into the ranks of the “hidden homeless”, which the charity says numbers 400,000.
And Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Conservative spokesman for housing, also accused the government of “massaging” the figures.
The unit insisted it would not be drawn into a “slanging match” with charities, as they were all trying to accomplish the same goal. RSU head Louise Casey said she found the attack by the Simon Community “personally upsetting.”
“I feel this undermines the tremendous work that has gone on involving local authorities, charities and individuals,” she said. “People have worked their socks off to achieve these reductions. It is not about one night, it is about two years of solid good work.”
Housing minister Lord Falconer announced that the government will now tackle wider homelessness issues. A new homelessness directorate will bring together existing work and examine the underlying causes of homelessness and act to prevent it, he said.
Source
Housing Today
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