12:42pm Sunday 27th April 2008
By Ben Briggs
A NEW scheme aimed at helping homeless people across Lancashire is being launched this week.
The North West Regional Assembly (NWRA), through the Regional Housing Board, is launching the Regional Homelessness Strategy at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton, on Tuesday.
Areas such as Blackburn and Burnley have seen the number of homeless families or individuals drop by eight per cent and 33 per cent respectively in 2007.
However, the NWRA wants to build on this positive work in a bid to eradicate the problem from the region.
The strategy has been designed to tackle the underlying cause of homelessness in Lancashire and to ensure that the region as a whole can provide services to support people to access warm, secure and affordable homes.
It also aims to increase access to a choice of settled homes, including increasing the role played by the private sector, and increase access to social housing.
Sir Richard Leese, chairman of the Regional Housing Group, said: "In the innovative, forward- thinking, 21st-century North West, we believe homelessness should not be the issue that it is.
"Preventing homelessness is about ending personal suffering as well as addressing its causes.
"Only by doing this can we work towards reducing the demand placed on the wider public services.
"The Regional Housing Board, supported by the Regional Homelessness Forum, is committed to making a difference to the lives of people in the severest form of housing need, by attacking the problem at a regional level.
"We believe we can help agencies working locally and sub-regionally in the North West to further reduce homelessness and the resulting human and financial cost."
There are also plans within the strategy to develop an under-standing of homelessness in the region by looking at what the housing needs of homeless and other vulnerable households are.
"With this evidence, the NWRA hopes to work with its partners to develop a regional standard for engaging homelessness service users.
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