No rest in search for solutions

Liaising with homeless people is essential if current improvements are to be sustained

Figures published by the Government's Rough Sleepers Unit (RSU) show that the target has already been met to reduce the number of homeless on the streets of Britain by two thirds by the end of next year, when the three-year programme will end. But it is vital, says Louise Casey, head of RSU, to keep focused on ensuring that for the vulnerable people there will still be an alternative to sleeping in a doorway after the programme is over.

"It's really, really important that now we've made the target, it is sustained," Casey says. "In fact, the RSU's current funding levels have been rolled forward for 2002/2003 and 2003/2004.

"Admittedly, some of the work may be different, but that's because responses will need to be different in the future. When we started in 1998/99, much of our work was in getting vulnerable people – often with alcohol, drug and mental health problems – off the streets. Now, a greater emphasis will be on making sure those people get effective help inside so that they can move on to real lives rather than return to the streets. Equally important will be preventing a new generation of rough sleepers, especially young people leaving care and those leaving prison or the Armed Forces."

Agencies that have been working with the RSU are particularly keen to expand the focus on rough sleeping to more general homelessness issues. Two areas they want to bring at the top of the agenda are day-time homelessness and the hidden homeless.

Shaks Ghosh, chief executive of Crisis, believes that while homelessness used to be a night-time issue, the problem is now in former rough sleepers having nowhere to go during the day. "The way we even define rough sleeping makes it sound as if it's simply about where you put your head at night," Ghosh says. "But the problem for many people is not where they'll put their head – there are hostels – but what they'll do during the day." She acknowledges that the RSU has started to address this, but believes it remains a huge problem.

Meanwhile, Ghosh's concern about the "hidden homeless" – those who live on friends' floors and in B&Bs – is about sheer numbers. "The numbers are substantially bigger than the rough sleeping problem," she says. "It has to be our next priority. These people are only one crisis away from the streets."

So who will address such issues? Homeless Link, an amalgamation of the National Homeless Alliance and the Homeless Network, was set up in October to carry on the joined-up thinking around homelessness that the RSU implemented. Annie Turner, acting chief executive, says: "Our aim is to do exactly what our name suggests – to provide a link for homelessness agencies – largely so that they can learn from each other and improve quality through best practice. But more than that, we want to develop a role as a single strong voice on behalf of the agencies. In particular, we want them to tell us where there are barriers and gaps in homelessness services so that we can tackle the policy makers responsible."

Turner admits that a total consensus is unlikely, but if we hold the homeless person at the centre, that will help us represent them as fairly as possible.

This is a principle that Louise Casey agrees with wholeheartedly. "The homeless are part of the solution, not the problem – and this is something that everyone from charities to policy makers must remember.

"How else can we get to the truth of what works and what doesn't? In any case, rough sleepers have the best ideas. I remember meeting a guy who was living outside a church in Waterloo about two-and-a-half years ago and he said he couldn't understand why all the day centres shut in the early evening. He didn't want to go into a hostel, he didn't want a room of his own or a bed, but he would have sat in an armchair and watched telly all night. The night-centre has been one of the lynchpins in the RSU's success in central London."

All agencies agree that the Government must continue to lay itself open on the homelessness issue and that the Homelessness Bill, currently before the House of Lords, is a step in the right direction. The Bill will help reduce homelessness by providing more effective support for those who need it. It also brings a new focus on prevention by requiring local authorities to conduct a homelessness audit, prepare a homelessness strategy and put in place measures to prevent homelessness.

"We know from experience that when local authorities want to do something, they can," Casey says. "In areas like Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol, they woke up one day and said, 'We're going to solve this problem', realising they have the strategic role to pull together the right people. They made it happen."

There is a growing recognition that it is the responsibility of everyone to tackle homelessness, Casey believes. This alone means the good work started by the RSU should be remembered not as a one-off strategy, but as a whole new way of thinking.