Preserving the safety net
Denbighshire’s Supporting People team explains how it’s dealing with the consequences of the night shelter housing benefit ruling in Anglesey
Issues with the potential ineligibility for housing benefit of service users at Digartref Ynys Mon’s Night Shelter had been ongoing for a while by the time they were finally resolved. The Anglesey Night Shelter was closed and a vital source of funding for those in Rhyl and Wrexham was withdrawn. Although we’d known something was coming, when it arrived it was still quite a shock: in an era of bleak austerity it seemed a vital safety net for rough sleepers had been removed.
Now the deluge has subsided and we can all see more clearly, we’ve found ourselves in a particularly slippery situation. The judgement from the Upper Tribunal sets no precedents and makes no new law.
Judge Wright’s decision is pretty unambiguous: if you stay overnight in a night shelter but must leave in the morning with all your belongings and with no right or guarantee of a place the next night, then you are not occupying the shelter as your home – and you have no entitlement to housing benefit. This is the situation in Denbighshire and the reason why housing benefit is no longer payable.
Alter our arrangements
It seems to us in Denbighshire that if we’re to have a night shelter at all it will most likely have to survive without housing benefit. If we alter our arrangements to comply with the tribunal ruling we open a whole new set of complications around the right to occupy and in dealing with those we’re most likely to find that we no longer have a night shelter, we have a hostel. And those who can’t or won’t use a hostel will no longer have a service.
Data collected from the Rhyl Night Shelter shows that in July 2013, 24 people accessed the night shelter an average of eight times each. In August it was 22 individuals. Admission was declined a total of 43 times in the two months. Denbighshire’s needs mapping data for 2012-13 included 56 forms from people giving their current accommodation as the Rhyl Night Shelter: 34 per cent were aged 16-24, 41 per cent were aged 25-40, 41 per cent were 41-60 and 23 per cent were 61 or over. Some 82 per cent were male. There are eight bed-spaces in the shelter. There appears to be significant demand and the challenge now is to deliver a service that meets this demand in a way that addresses the underlying issues of those who use the night shelter and to do this within the confines of a tight budget.
No Second Night Out
Following the No Second Night Out approach from England, we’re hoping to retain a night shelter for those who need it, albeit at drastically reduced capacity. To be more sustainable we will be looking to be cross-subsidised with other services, preferably on the same site. Most likely, this provision will also include a hostel where homeless people have an opportunity to settle and engage with the help and support they need over weeks rather than days. We’re looking into commissioning a parallel Housing First service so that, where appropriate, rough sleepers’ most pressing need – a home – can be met immediately. This will be backed up with a flexible intensive support service to help the challenging transition into settled living.
Of course, funding remains a challenge, as does securing appropriate accommodation, but we’re cautiously optimistic.