Recently, our chief executive Jean Templeton took part in an interview with ITV Central about the latest rough sleepers count for the region. She was asked a range of questions and we wanted to share those answers with you just in case you missed it.
- What would you do on Day 1 of being Homelessness Minister?
Jean Templeton
If we’re really serious about ending homelessness including rough sleeping, then we need:
- a) A national commitment to increase our supply of truly affordable rented housing, – (increase capital contribution to keep rents affordable and enable people to live and work and be benefit free)
- b) We need to re-align housing benefits with housing costs, and
- c) We need timely access to health and wellbeing support, before people reach crisis.
2) What gets in our way?
Lack of all of the above. We don’t believe that homelessness should be part of growing up. We need a Youth Housing Offer situated within a National Housing Strategy which enables people to live, work, earn and learn.
3) What is your message to Government?
Plan for what you want to achieve not just what you want to avoid. Let’s be ambitious, let’s develop a national INclusion and Wellbeing Strategy which achieves prevention by design and keeps people in homes, education, jobs, good health rather than picking them up when they fall out of all of those systems. Homelessness is after all the ultimate exclusion.
We are committed to working with Government to end youth homelessness, but as Jean says, let’s get ambitious with our goals. Prevention is always better than cure. If the focus is on that then we can tackle head on the reasons that can eventually lead to homelessness.
Shared by St Basils Communications Team