Kelly pledge to ease the plight of homeless

11:50am Wednesday 15th November 2006

Ruth Kelly has pledged to end the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year olds.

Describing the practice as "unacceptable for a civilised society", the Communities Secretary, and MP for Bolton-west, will instruct councils to set up lodgings centres that provide guidance and support, as well as shelter, for youngsters kicked out by their parents.

On the 40th anniversary of the seminal television drama Cathy Come Home - which highlighted the plight of young, homeless people - she claimed that the government had "turned the tide" on homelessness but now had to address its fundamental causes.

Announcing that the government would spend £74m to combat the problem over the next 12 months, Ms Kelly said that she was especially concerned for those who were made homeless because parents refused to have them at home when they reached their late teens.

She said: "Cathy has come in, off the street, but now we must meet new challenges and deal with the changing nature of homelessness.

"It is unacceptable for a civilised society such as ours to expect homeless 16 and 17 year olds to be on their own in bed and breakfast hotels.

"These are young people at their most vulnerable, who are a short step from throwing away their future and never realising their potential."

New measures announced yesterday include setting up supported lodging schemes to provide advice and mediation. Next year the government will issue a guide to local authorities and agencies telling them how to transform hostels "from just being a roof over your head, to being a springboard to a job and a home".

Ms Kelly said: "We need to end the revolving door' of homelessness and help people use time spent in hostels for training and acquiring new skills."

She said that new cases of homelessness were the lowest for 23 years and that the number of people sleeping rough on the streets each night had fallen from 1,800 eight years ago to 500.

But she admitted that with almost 94,000 households still living in temporary accommodation, more needs to be done to address the "fundamental causes" of homelessness.

"We have serious challenges to face and must not lose momentum. These are the issues on which our society should be judged."

Jenny Edwards, chief executive of Homeless Link, an umbrella group for organisations working with homeless people, said that the announcements "move things forward".

"We welcome the pledge to take young people out of unsuitable bed-and-breakfast accommodation and into more supportive lodgings. This and the sort of family mediation schemes now proposed have proven their value where they are already currently offered."

Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Dan Rogerson said: "The fact that more than half a million people are still living in squats, hostels, on friend's floors and in temporary accommodation is a damning indictment of this government.

"The Government has allowed 450,000 council homes to be sold off since 1997 with only 140,000 new social homes being built.

"Councils must be allowed to reinvest money from the sale of old council houses to provide new social housing for those who are worst off.

"We need to provide sustainable homes for all. The government should be making it as easy for councils to invest in their housing as it is for housing associations."