The government’s Rough Sleepers Unit officially folded last week to make way for the new Homelessness Directorate, amid continued calls for an enquiry into its November 2001 street headcount.
The RSU was set up in April 1999 in response to the homelessness bill and the government pledge to cut rough sleeping by two thirds by 2002. Its former director, Louise Casey (pictured), will head the new directorate.

Casey described working at the unit as “the hardest job I have ever done.” Its legacy was funding and building relations between various homelessness and social agencies, she said.

Street homelessness organisation the Simon Community has written twice to housing minister Lord Falconer and prime minister Tony Blair demanding an inquiry into the headcount. It alleges figures were “falsified” (Housing Today, 6 December).

Director Philip Burke said this week: “The government doesn’t want to acknowledge the full scale of the homelessness problem and doesn’t want the public to know about the problem.

“I can understand the aims of the Rough Sleepers Unit’s concerted effort to sweep the streets clear, but it is counterproductive and we now have ghettoisation of the homeless.”

Casey has vociferously denied Burke’s claims. Speaking about her new role at the directorate, she said: “I will continue to be ruthless and dogmatic to achieve what I would like to achieve.

“If we remain clear about what we can do to make a difference we can tackle it. More affordable housing would certainly help the problem, but it is vital we tackle social exclusion and bed and breakfast accommodation – we need to be unrelenting.”

Crisis chief executive Shaks Ghosh said: “The achievement of the RSU is obviously that they did something none of us thought possible, which was to reduce the number of rough sleepers on the streets to less than 600 on any one night.

“But we haven’t yet managed to rebuild people’s lives, we need to stick with them.”

Source

Housing Today