For the last two years Shelter Cymru has been campaigning to encourage local authorities to make the most of discretionary housing payments (DHPs) to prevent homelessness.
DHPs are a vital source of financial help for people who are struggling to afford their housing. Each year, the UK Government gives the money to Welsh councils to distribute. But if the money isn’t all spent by the end of March, the UK Government takes it back.
We decided to campaign in 2016 when nearly £290,000 was returned to Westminster – enough money to have prevented homelessness for 1,590 people.
In 2017 the amount of money returned to Westminster was a little under £100,000 – good progress, but still a waste of precious resources.
This year we carried out a Freedom of Information request to find out how much money councils still had at the beginning of January. The results were – for the most part – really positive.
Welsh local authorities had a tough job this year to spend DHPs as the pot for Wales has been increased by 24 per cent. However, the majority of councils have risen brilliantly to the challenge.
So far this year local authorities have given out more than £8.2 million which is a fantastic 36 per cent higher than the same time last year.
More than 45,000 people have been helped to avoid homelessness –12,000 more people than this time last year.
Almost every council is on track to spend the full amount. Five councils have already added in extra funds and others are promising to do so when the need arises.
Torfaen has already spent its whole allocation and topped up by £80,000. This council has helped more people than any other local authority – nearly 6,000 people so far.
Other councils have made huge strides in improving their performance in the last year. Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Newport and Wrexham have all increased their spending by more than 50 per cent, some of them by more than 100 per cent.
Blaenau Gwent council has shown massive improvements. This time last year more than half the DHP pot was still unspent. This year it has already spent the whole sum and topped up by more than £44,000.
Currently the only council giving cause for concern is Merthyr Tydfil which still had 42 per cent of its pot unspent at the beginning of January.
We are pleased that our campaigning has had a positive effect on councils’ use of DHPs and that less money is being returned to Westminster year on year. It’s fantastic that by working together Wales is achieving such great results.
At a time when more than 25,000 people become homeless every year, including more than 2,800 children, it’s vital that we make the most of every penny to keep people in their homes.
We’re going to keep campaigning to ensure that in 2018 no DHP money is returned to Westminster.
If you think this is something worth campaigning for, why not sign up as a Shelter Cymru campaign supporter at sheltercymru.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigns/campaign-with-us.