Government Accused Of Lacking "Political Will" To Prevent More Homeless Deaths
Several people who were homeless are reported to have died over the weekend in the cold weather. (Alamy)
5 min read
Shadow homelessness minister Mike Amesbury has said he fears more people will die on the streets this winter after several homeless people have been found dead since temperatures plummeted.
Earlier this month, severe weather warnings were issued by the Met Office with significant snowfall in the north and midlands, and temperatures dropping below -9C in certain areas.
One man was found dead in a car where he had reportedly been living in Nottingham, and another man was found dead lying in a shop doorway in Manchester.
Mike Amesbury, Labour's shadow minister for homelessness, told PoliticsHome he feared there is a lack of political will in government to prevent an escalating homelessness cold weather crisis over the winter months.
"I am very worried about the problem getting worse this winter," he said.
Amesbury point to the 'Everyone In' scheme rolled out during the pandemic, where homeless people were placed in hotels to prevent the spread of Covid on the streets as an example of Government acting to tackle homelessness "when there's a political will to ensure everyone has a roof over their heads".
"It's quite rapidly becoming 'everybody out' in the lead up to Christmas and beyond," he added.
Homelessness overall is rising in the UK, with government figures earlier this year showing between January and March 2023 79,840 households faced homelessness in England – the highest figure on record, according to Shelter.
Deaths among homeless people are rising in the UK, with research from the charity Museum of Homelessness earlier this year showing 1,313 homeless people died in 2022, a 85 per cent increase compared to figures three years prior.
At Prime Minister's Question on Wednesday, Labour leader Keir Starmer raised the issue, drawing particular attention to predictions that 140,000 children are expected to be homeless this Christmas.
"That is more than ever before. That's a shocking state of affairs, and it should shame this government," Starmer said.
"Instead of more social housing, housebuilding is set to collapse. Instead of banning no fault evictions, 1000s of families are at risk of homelessness. Rather than indulging his backbenchers swanning around with their factions and their star chambers pretending to be members of the mafia, when's he gonna get a grip and focus on the country?" Sunak criticised Labour's proposals on housebuilding in response.
Amesbury believes there are several ways the government should be addressing the problem of homelessness this winter, including better leadership across government departments to deal with the individual issues of rough sleeping, street sleeping, and homelessness.
"There's the fundamental issue of supply of genuine, affordable homes for social rent – plus decent, regulated supported accommodation," he said.
He also felt "early intervention" for people with complex needs was "fundamental" to avoid a rise in homelessness among that group.
"People have significant and complex trauma, we need to make sure that any investment with local authorities goes upstream, together with housing associations, so we can prevent homelessness," Amesbury continued.
He added that abolishing Section 21 'no fault' evictions, a key tenet of the government's Renters' Reform Bill was key to preventing more homelessness, which he said was causing "a lot of the problem". The Bill is currently working its way through parliament, but has been subject to significant backlash from MPs opposed to scrapping Section 21. There has also been some concern raised from Tory MPs that making it harder for landlords to evict tenants would exacerbate major backlogs in the courts.
"The government have kicked the can down the road on that," said Amesbury.
"We've got a Renters Reform Bill going through parliament that is seemingly making some of the right noises – but when it comes to reality, when you scratch below the surface, they are not going to abolish Section 21 no fault evictions until they've reformed the courts.
"That's going to take a considerable amount of time... meanwhile there's literally hundreds of people being evicted at the moment."
Ultimately, Amesbury said the recent homeless deaths were a "phyiscal manifestation" of a failure in policy "over a number of years".
"As we lead up to Christmas, and people focus on a time of joy and getting presents and making arrangements to meet families, these deaths show far, far, far too many are left behind by society," he added.
"We shouldn't have that situation should be where people are losing their lives, essentially freezing to death, in modern Britain."
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, told PoliticsHome "it is both deeply saddening and utterly unacceptable that anyone should die without a safe place to live".
"A freezing doorway, an icy car or a flimsy tent are no substitute for a home," Neate said.
“With rents at a record high and few social homes available, our frontline services are regularly hearing from people who’ve run out of options and are faced with the trauma of sleeping on the streets.
“The government promised to end rough sleeping by next year, but things have got exponentially worse not better.Everyone at risk of the street should have a right to suitable emergency accommodation and adequate support.
"And to end homelessness for good we need all political parties to commit to building good quality, supported social homes.”
Mims Davies, a minister at the department for work and pensions, has praised the government's record on tackling the issue of homelessess – citing its decision to unfreeze local housing allowance as "the biggest thing this government could do to tackle homelessness".
"Last year, the Prime Minister also promised £2 billion of investment to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over a three-year period, including hundreds of millions pounds of support to help local councils protect the most vulnerable people in their care," Davies added.
"This enormous package of support is clear evidence of this government’s commitment to making sure no one has to live with the precarity of being homeless."
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