GOVERNMENT HOMELESS REPORT "MISSES THE POINT IN CORNWALL" (Julia Goldsworthy)

Julia Goldsworthy <info@juliagoldsworthy.org>

GOVERNMENT HOMELESS REPORT "MISSES THE POINT IN CORNWALL"

November 24, 2008 3:00 PM

A recent government report that sets a target to end all rough sleeping by 2012 is "fundamentally flawed in its methodology" according to Julia Goldsworthy.

Julia is concerned that progress in tackling homelessness - particularly in rural areas - is being held back by a government system that measures homelessness only by the number of rough sleepers on the streets of towns and cities.

She has written to homelessness minister Iain Wright raising her concerns that those sleeping rough in the countryside and the "hidden homeless," who sleep on the sofas and floors of friends and family are completely invisible to a system that relies on street counts in urban areas.

The flaws of the system have been underlined by recent government figures that stated there have been no rough sleepers in Cornwall since 2007. This comes despite the West Cornwall Housing Requirements Survey 2007 which measured 20 people sleeping rough out of 10,480 households which were in housing need.

Commenting, Julia said:

"A target to abolish homelessness is all very well, but is totally meaningless when the government are being so selective with what they measure. The new target is pointless unless it is based on reliable information; not discredited street counts.

"Government figures might indicate there isn't a problem, but the pressures on the many organisations providing support to homeless people locally show a completely different reality.

"I saw first hand at New Connection and the local Salvation Army Breakfast club in Camborne recently, that there are many people who are struggling to find accommodation, and all too often end up having to sleep rough.

"These organisations are in desperate need of support - but this is going to be a challenge when government data doesn't even show the scale of the problem. I've asked the Housing Minister Iain Wright to come and see first hand the extent of homelessness in rural areas."