Morning, Tuesday, 14th January 2025
Online
This conference is bringing policymakers and stakeholders together to examine priorities for tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in England.
Taking place as the Government prepares to create a new cross-government taskforce with the aim of developing a long-term strategy to end homelessness, delegates will examine approaches for addressing recent trends and key issues, such as the impact of rising rates of temporary accommodation and rough sleeping.
It is also taking place in the context of recent national statistics showing record numbers of people who are homeless, sleeping rough or living in temporary accommodation, and with the 2023 OECD Affordable Housing Database suggesting the UK has the highest rate of homelessness in member countries.
Sessions will consider priorities for tackling private rented sector insecurity and proposed measures in the Renters’ Rights Bill recently introduced to Parliament, including the end of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, and further proposed legislation aimed at improving affordability, security and quality in private sector housing. Further discussion is expected on support and enforcing recent measures such as Awaab’s Law in tackling dangerous hazards, determining regionally appropriate measures and funding models.
Delegates will discuss the new Government’s approach and spending commitments, including how the more than £200m in additional funding announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget can best be utilised. They will look at the implications for delivery of support services, alongside key issues for implementing strategies to tackle homelessness, including coordinating partnerships and local support, and tackling housing insecurity, as well as the practicality of delivering on its housebuilding targets.
We expect discussion on the role of the third sector and local authorities in the context of fiscal pressures and high demand, with a focus on strategies for improving collaboration between local and national government and fostering multi-agency coordination across key sectors, including health, legal and law enforcement, in order to deliver more effective responses to homelessness.
The agenda will draw on examples of best practice in tackling homelessness, including regional case studies, and initiatives for aiding recovery from homelessness and delivering long-term support for health, education and employment, as well as priorities for vulnerable groups experiencing homelessness.
Further sessions will consider how government can better support local authorities with more consistent funding and support to enable a greater focus on homelessness prevention, with the NAO recently reporting that local authority spending on homelessness services has more than doubled since 2010-11, with some councils spending as much as half their budgets on tackling homelessness. The report also highlighted a £200m gap in the funding local authorities received to cover the costs of providing temporary accommodation.
We are pleased to be able to include keynote sessions with: Vicky Davis, Director, Local Government Value for Money, NAO; and Rick Henderson, CEO, Homeless Link.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates.
