Rough sleeping: what Starmer can learn from Blair – by David Christie

When Labour came to power in 1997, huge and unprecedented numbers of people were sleeping rough in every town and city across Britain. The appalling sight of people bedding down in shop doorways across the nation was widely considered a ‘national disgrace’.

Labour gave a high priority to homelessness and set itself the aim of reducing rough sleeping by two-thirds by 2001. To the surprise of many, it achieved its aim ahead of time. By 2010, at the end of Labour’s three terms in government, rough sleeping was at its lowest ever recorded levels and had almost ceased to be a visible problem.

After 2010 numbers grew rapidly again, increasing by 169% by 2020, and have risen still further since. We are now close to being back where we were in 1997.

Remarkable reduction

My research investigated in detail what happened under New Labour by eliciting the testimonies of some ninety individuals who devised and delivered Labour’s homelessness programme giving a unique insight into its strengths and weaknesses.

It concludes that, against the views of many contemporary critics, Labour introduced a coherent and sustained series of policies that not only led directly to the remarkable reduction in rough sleeping but enabled formerly homeless people to maintain their accommodation and resettle permanently away from the streets.

Although I am historian, this is not merely a matter of history. The way in which Labour went about addressing street homelessness, the mechanisms of government they employed, the bodies they set up, the way in which they both empowered and regulated the homelessness sector, the legislation they passed and the nature and scope of the funding they provided could easily be replicated to address the current crisis.

In broad-brush terms certain features are key.

Firstly, it is a question of political will. The costs incurred in reducing rough sleeping are relatively small compared to the costs of other government responsibilities, and could easily be afforded even in testing economic circumstances. What is required is the sustained application of political will from the very top of government. Blair made rough sleeping a personal priority and Labour continued to provide sufficient support from the top throughout its three terms.

Secondly, it is vital to address the problem holistically. Homelessness is a ‘wicked problem’, in that its causes and solutions are the responsibility of many government departments, but are central to none. Labour placed its Social Exclusion Unit at the heart of government in the Cabinet Office, and created a central government body (the Homeless Persons Unit) in Whitehall, backing both bodies with the Prime Ministerial patronage necessary to oblige government departments to cooperate in achieving their aims.

Thirdly, careful consideration must be given to any government bodies that are created. They need to be strongly supported, awarded sufficient funds, staffed by experts from the both the homelessness sector and civil servants who know how to navigate Whitehall and given the autonomy to be flexibility and innovative in their approach. Under New Labour the skill set of the HPU enabled it to introduce both new regulatory disciplines and drive through new methods of working practice that transformed the efficacy of the voluntary homelessness sector. A legacy of this period is that a tremendous repository of skills and experience still resides in the voluntary homelessness sector and given coherent guidance from the centre and sufficient funding could readily be built upon.

Fourthly, policies must be designed to ensure that those resettled do more than merely maintain their accommodation but are empowered to take control of their lives in order to escape homelessness permanently. New Labour’s most radical (and unheralded) intervention was the Supporting People programme (from 2003) which provided funds not only for general and specialist tenancy support, but also helped facilitate people’s social networks and provided opportunities for training and education that enabled people to regain control of their lives. Much of the cause of the rapid rise in rough sleeping after 2010 is a consequence of cuts in the Supporting People programme followed by the ending of the ‘ring-fence’ that meant that funds disappeared into the wider local authority budget. Central control of funding must be maintained. Localism does not work for homelessness – it will never be a priority against the other competing demands faced by local government.

Fifthly, preventing homelessness in the first place is more important than addressing it once it has occurred. Under New Labour, the Homelessness Act 2002 made the formulation of local homelessness strategies a mandatory requirement for local authorities, obliged co-operation across the statutory and voluntary sector and transformed housing departments’ attitudes toward single homeless people. Care taken over hospital and prison discharge, support for tenants facing eviction, rent-deposit schemes and private rented accommodation schemes are as important as outreach services and psychologically informed hostel environments. A new government needs to radically rethink its policies toward those currently designated as having ‘no recourse to public funds’ who now make up a substantial portion of those sleeping rough.

Policy and practical delivery

The devil is, of course, in the detail. In stark contrast to the period of governance that has just ended, one characterised by high rhetoric but little substantive action, New Labour’s approach to homelessness was focussed on that most important of governmental tasks, the translation of policy aims into effective delivery.

I urge anyone appalled by the levels of rough sleeping now endured by so many people to dig into the detail of my research, and urge the incoming government to look at New Labour’s programme as a template that could easily be revived.

Read David Christie’s PhD thesis on how New Labour addressed rough sleeping

Watch this ITV documentary about Labour’s approach to reducing rough sleeping from 2000, featuring Louise Casey and (amongst others) a young Tom Preest and Jon Kuhrt: