Cymorth Cymru’s article in the latest WHQ looks at the past, present and possible future of housing-related support. To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go’
WHQ celebrates its 100th issue
1965. The song The Impossible Dream is first performed. The Wilson Government has made housing a priority and has made progress within the field of homelessness and introduced measures to improve conditions for more deprived areas.
1990. Mrs Thatcher has stood down. Right to buy remains one of her most controversial and well-known achievements and for many in Wales her legacy is still one of bitterness. WHQ publishes its first issue.
2015. A majority Conservative Government. A housing crisis that continues to deepen. A commitment to a smaller state that would have surprised even Thatcher – and a lack of united opposition that might have delighted her.
Housing-related support has undergone significant changes. Time to Change has had a hugely positive impact on perceptions of mental health. Many LGBT+ individuals will grow up in environments where there is lower risk of becoming homeless because of their sexuality. The Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 shows a government taking this issue seriously. There is greater awareness of prevention.
There has been some positive change in public attitudes towards homelessness, but attitudes towards people on benefits have hardened.
The sector saw investment under New Labour, which resulted in the creation of the vital lifeline that is the Supporting People programme. But it has also borne many pains of austerity. Some ‘impossible dreams’ have been achieved. Some seem more impossible than ever.
2040
Predicting five years ahead is difficult – to predict 25 harder still, but we can know some debates will have significant impacts on housing-related support in the future.
1: Shrunken vs. resurgent public sector
The acceptance of austerity has become the latest orthodoxy. A drive towards value for money can be liberating when we know that the existence of services is still widely supported. It can be debilitating for practitioners when the tide of public opinion is against them.
Will we see the state continue to shrink? What will happen to services if budgets are cut further? Will it take a crisis to restore public support for public services? These are questions that will reverberate over the next two decades.
2: Enabling vs. depersonalising technology
Technology is unrecognisable today compared to 1990 and has brought unprecedented change to society.
Technology presents huge challenges and opportunities to housing support. With ‘smart’ houses that can perform programmed tasks, could supported housing reduce staffing levels in favour of thinking appliances? With this already being explored in terms of alarms and alerts, is it inconceivable that an older person could be supported by their home itself to retain independence?
The other side of this coin is depersonalisation. Seeing technology solely as a solution and downplaying the importance of human interaction is a huge risk to health and happiness.
As long as we see technology as enabling positive change – and not as a method of saving money – there is potential for a revolution in support.
3: Large vs. small providers
Over recent years, there has been a trend towards larger providers – partly due to the sector’s challenges. Larger providers can achieve economies of scale, navigate differential structures more easily and have larger reserves to absorb cuts.
Smaller organisations have other strengths. Many are highly flexible and can have services closer to ‘ground level’ more easily. Often they are set up by an individual with a drive to make a focused difference, and have unique philosophies or local approaches.
A mixed market, where large and small providers can co-exist, allows for varied approaches to be taken. As we head towards 2040, the sector needs to consider how smaller organisations can survive before the strengths they offer are lost.
4: Universal vs. means-tested prevention
The Homelessness Monitor for Wales 2015 examines the current situation of the homelessness sector. Recorded statutory homelessness acceptances in Wales are 70 per cent higher than in England, pro rata to population.
The test for Wales will be to reduce that number. The best way of ensuring that is through preventative working.
We know that prevention works best when it is universal. People at risk can be supported effectively, and costs are saved further down the line.
As budgets come under continued pressure, we run the risk of means-tested prevention. Economically and morally this approach is both unjust and logically unsound. Even if the state continues to shrink there will need to be a firm commitment to universal prevention.
Working together
The challenges that we will face over 25 years are more than one article can address. We are in an era of unprecedented change, and we know that traditional models have to adapt.
The only thing we can say for certain is that to weather the storms of the mid 21st century, we need to work together.
It isn’t an impossible dream.