Temporary accommodation, long-term crisis?

Audit Wales have just produced what can only be described as a devastating report (using that title) about the use by local authorities of temporary accommodation to meet homelessness applicant’s housing needs.  It has been reported in Inside Housing (£) and elsewhere, including the Audit Wales Press Release.  We have covered this issue before, following the Bevan Foundation report and work by Shelter Cymru.  This report comes in the slipstream of the WG’s Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation Bill which is designed to reinforce culture change towards preventing homelessness and stopping the revolving door.  The report summarises the conclusions about local authority practices as follows:

• are spending considerable amounts of money on temporary accommodation which in many cases does not meet people’s needs;
• do not understand whether they are getting value for money from their temporary accommodation;
• have made limited progress with improving prevention of homelessness to achieve better outcomes and reduce costs;
• find it difficult to predict demand for temporary accommodation in the medium to long term;
• do not have clear plans in place to ensure their workforce is equipped to prevent demand for temporary accommodation; and
• find it difficult to work well with partner organisations to prevent homelessness.

#ouch

There has been a 200% increase in the use of TA in Wales over the last five years, with an increase in expenditure of – wait for it – 516% from 2020-3.  And 24% of TA residents were children.  Audit Wales believe (rightly) that TA will continue to be used in relatively high levels in the short to medium term (and probably long term, depending on how cynical you are).  This is so serious because of the quality of TA and the effect of placements.  Consider this para in the report(which should be shocking, but I’ve heard it so often that I’ve sort of become immune):

Well-being and personal safety concerns have been so significant for some people that they have chosen to become homeless rather than stay in temporary accommodation.

Most councils think that they have provided value for money, but this is criticised by Audit Wales as not focused on outcomes or value.  They don’t benchmark its costs (which surely is kind of management 101) and assess value of PRS accommodation against hotels/B&Bs.

On preventing homelessness – which is the surest way to reduce the use of TA – they found that “… all councils are aware of the need to move from a reactive to preventative approach, however, the extent to which they have made progress with this is highly variable and limited overall”.  #ouch again.  Few evaluate how their prevention approaches are working, and some don’t conduct any evaluation.

Detailed planning is jejeune:

Over half of councils told us they did not have a fully costed, approved plan in place to resource the projected demand for temporary accommodation over the next three to five years. Many councils told us that they find it difficult to cost their plans for temporary accommodation in the short, medium and long term. This was due to not being able to accurately predict demand or forecast what the costs will be for private providers in the future.

And they are hamstrung in planning by reliance on uncertain sources of government funding.

Partnership working isn’t happening as it should, and staff in what used to be called homeless persons units feel undervalued.

Although we might have been aware of all of this, it is still shocking to read it.  We have reached a stage where expectations of suitable accommodation are so low when it comes to TA, and our preconceptions about its expense, have caused a kind of stasis in its management and provision (that’s my hypothesis).  To be fair to Audit Wales, they have made a series of suggestions in the report about what can be done to skill up and make changes.  However, in the context of WG policy and the Bill, there is a step-change that is needed in culture and working practices.  We cannot expect people to live in circumstances which force them back into homelessness – that’s just uncivilised and (pretty obviously) massively problematic, even in the very short term.

To be honest, it may be that we need more realistic government policy to address the issue.  We are not going to end homelessness in the short term or medium term; if we recognise that ending homelessness is the goal, that’s great and a laudable aim.  However, if we make assumptions about the timescale within which homelessness will be ended, that will have an impact on budgeting, grants, and TA planning.  This is not Westminster where there is a lethargy about this issue or, perhaps, a dithering caused by a lack of options (assumed or otherwise).  This is Wales where policy-makers have a reputation for thoughtful engagement and working in partnership, and innovation.  So, there is a need for centralised action here that assists local authorities with their planning, that isn’t just short-term grants, and that works with the grain of the reality of homelessness.