Andy Burnham is hoping to extend his success in tackling homelessness in Manchester to the rest of the country, but local groups say his flagship scheme became a victim of its own success.
Burnham made ending rough sleeping his first pledge on day one of walking into 10 Downing Street. He had a similar policy during his decade as Mayor of Greater Manchester – but after initial success the numbers started to rise again.
Local groups reflect on scheme's impact
Jimmy Dunn, who helps run Lifeshare, a voluntary organisation which supports the homeless, said Burnham's 'A Bed Every Night' policy in Manchester became a victim of its own success. He said: “I thought his statement on day one as Prime Minister was bold. When he started the scheme in Manchester it started to work. He did a lot of good things as mayor. But now obviously the numbers are up again and part of that is down to the success of the 'A Bed' scheme.”
“People came to Manchester because they heard about it. We’ve had people from Lancashire, Stoke, Birmingham. They head here in the hope of getting accommodation, but it’s not that easy.”
Challenges ahead for national rollout
Walking through Manchester today the number of tents on the pavements and down alleyways has reduced massively. Piccadilly Gardens – once a blight on the city centre due to the number of homeless people sleeping in the doorways – has now been cleaned up, though that may be due to the ongoing renovation works. But local groups say homelessness and rough sleeping is still a big problem in the city.
Jimmy said Burnham had visited Lifeshare’s breakfast club during his time as Manchester mayor, adding: “This new money will be dispersed across the country, but I don’t think you can eradicate it (homelessness), it’s not as simple as that. A lot of people don’t want accommodation, a lot of people aren’t capable of looking after themselves. That’s why they need support, to help get them ready. If he eradicates 40% or 60% then he will have helped a lot of people.”
Jimmy said the organisation feeds up to 350 people every weekend at their breakfast clubs and hands over dozens of food packages each week. He said there needed to be a coordinated response from a large number of organisations to properly get people off the streets. “We have to deal with drugs, drink, violence. We had one young lad who had his sleeping bag set on fire on Christmas Eve, he was in hospital for months. We have all the social problems rolled into one.”
Voices from the street
Justin, who is homeless and volunteers at the organisation, said he hoped Burnham’s plan would work across the country – but warned it was ambitious. “I’ve been homeless on and off for seven years. The system isn’t great. I’ve got temporary accommodation now, my own room in a shared facility. I think it will cost a lot more than £100 million extra to make it a success. More and more people are struggling, the cost of living is still going up.”
“More people will become homeless, I think that will add to the pressures. What he’s saying sounds great, but there are a lot of people out there not registered as homeless. What happens if they start coming out of the woodwork as soon as this comes into play. If you give someone a bed you become responsible for the needs of that person. I think people are going to either love or hate what Andy Burnham does. But at least he’s having a go. A lot of politicians bluster but at least he’s vaping a crack at it.”
Sat outside a doorway on Market Street in the centre of town, Michael said he had been homeless for about two months. Asked about the PM’s plans he said: “I’ll believe it when I see it. We’ve heard it all before from politicians. It's a balancing act with the Government, they only have a certain amount of money. I’ve been finding it hard this last couple of months. I don’t know about being homeless. I made some bad decisions. I find it hard asking for help. I feel I should find the answers.”
He said he was sofa surfing and reliant on friends for somewhere to stay: “That’s not going to last forever, I lost my last tenancy and now I’m on a blacklist. I’m not going to be considered for housing for a while.”
