April Policy Round-Up

Welcome to the Homeless Link Monthly Policy Round-up for April 2012. Here we aim to keep you up-to-date with our latest policy and influencing work, across the sector and at all levels of government.

Contents:
Inclusion Health
Work Programme
Influencing: Shadow Housing Minister
Policy Forum
Consultations
Research
Out 'n' About

Inclusion Health

We have been commissioned by the Department of Health’s Inclusion Health Board to produce guidance to help Health and Wellbeing Boards include the needs of homeless people in their Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) www.homeless.org.uk/jsna and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWS). We are delivering this in partnership with St Mungo’s and the London Pathway.
Contact: Helen Mathie

We attended the second meeting of the Leadership and Workforce Development working group set up under the Inclusion Health Board (which includes the needs of homeless people). This group is looking at how the workforce in the NHS and third sector can be supported to better meet the needs of homeless people. We raised the need to ensure that a focus on this client group is mainstreamed in training and development for professionals across the health sector.
Contact: Alice Evans

Work Programme

The Work Programme has been operating for 9 months and we are keen to explore homeless people’s experiences of it. We have received a number of anecdotal reports about access issues, potential ‘parking’ of clients further from the labour market, and concerns about support where clients have identified self-employment as the most appropriate option for them.

In order to collect evidence we have created an online survey to be completed by clients with support from frontline staff.
Contact: Paul Anders

Influencing: Shadow Housing Minister 

We met with Jack Dromey, Shadow Housing Minister, to discuss a range of issues. We will be feeding into his on-going work to ensure that homelessness is represented and issues raised. We are supporting his office to organise a youth homeless parliament along with other organisations in the sector.
Contact: Alice Evans

Policy Forum

We hosted a Policy Forum in April, at which Linda Pizani Williams from Clinks presented on police and crime commissioners and the implications for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations. The project she manages – Safer Future Communities – is developing and supporting networks of VCSE organisations so that they can work together to influence and participate in local policing plans.
Contact: Helen Mathie

CONSULTATIONS

Social Housing Allocations
The DCLG consulted on new draft statutory guidance on social housing allocations for local authorities in England. The new guidance is intended to assist authorities to take advantage of the provisions in the Localism Act 2011 which give back to local authorities the freedom to manage their own waiting lists, and make it easier for them to move existing social tenants to more suitable accommodation. It also encourages authorities to make use of the existing flexibilities within the allocation legislation to ensure that social homes go to people who “need and deserve them the most.” Read our response.
Contact: Helen Mathie

Mandatory consideration of revision before appeal
The DWP consulted on plans to reform the appeals process so that in future, those disputing a decision on a benefit claim will follow an escalating process of mandatory reconsideration before formal appeal.  In our response we highlighted that increased bureaucracy and timeframes may increase social exclusion for the most vulnerable. We believe that many will disengage because they have support needs which limit their ability to sustain the process. We asked the DWP to mitigate these impacts by amending the time limits and communications with claimants. Read our response.
Contact: Kathleen Caper

RESEARCH

Regional information from SNAP
An interactive workbook of regional data from SNAP 2012 has now been published. The workbook allows analysis a range of regional level data, and to compare data between regions and England as a whole. The workbook contains data on project numbers, bed spaces, funding sources and changes, specialist service availability and gaps in service provision. The regional workbook and the full SNAP report are available via our SNAP page.
Contact: Joe Whitaker

Social care
We are starting to explore a research project looking at how responsibility and budgets for ‘Supporting People’ type services are now being managed by different local authorities, often via adult social care services.  We’re having initial meetings with the DCLG and a number of local authorities to understand where our research should focus, and gather broad stakeholder views. 
Contact: Rachel Coffey

Dual Needs
We have received funding from the Department of Health for a project to focus on responses to clients with a dual need (defined as any mental health need and co-existing substance misuse problem). It will look in depth in five local areas to understand and identify options for clients with dual needs through an audit of local services, barriers and effective practice. Using this information, we will support partners to develop a shared action plan to better meet local need.
Contact: Helen Mathie

OUT 'N' ABOUT

Homelessness and Substance Misuse
We spoke at an event for Surrey County Council homelessness and substance misuse services which looked at how these two areas can work together in the new local landscape.

Cross-European Working Group on Homelessness and Migration
We attended a Cross-European Working Group on Homelessness and Migration, hosted by FEANTSA. This looked at developed EU wide responses to the challenges we are all facing as levels of homelessness among migrant populations increases in many EU countries.