Police in Crawley are reported to be taking a harder line on begging following complaints from traders.

The issue of begging comes up from time to time and this morning I was asked to comment on BBC Sussex on this case and the issue of begging as a whole.

Why do people beg? Usually it is to fund an addiction although there are a few who are genuinely destitute with no recourse to public funds (such as failed asylum seekers who are in a state of limbo having had their application for asylum rejected but are not being deported because their lives would be at risk if returned to their country of origin). They depend for survival from handouts from individuals or churches/charities.

Should you give to people who are begging? It is a personal choice. I personally don’t. Between 1996 and 2000 I undertook research into drug-related deaths in Brighton and Hove. I was struck by the number of times the deceased had accumulated through begging the required funds to buy the drugs that subsequently killed them. I also never assume that someone begging is actually homeless.

Should those begging be prosecuted? In a civilised society there should be no need for anyone to beg. Other than failed asylum seekers, there are welfare benefits to support individuals. If people are begging to feed an addiction, then questions must be asked about the availability of treatment services. If treatment services are there, then questions must be asked about what is being done to help individuals move from addiction to recovery AND the willingness of the individual to access those services. For those with a co-existing mental illness and addiction, the challenges are greater and criminalising the individual does not seem to me to be appropriate.

I have no doubt that some begging can be intimidatory, but I would see that more as demanding money with menace, even though it has the appearance of begging. A woman and child being approached in an isolated car park can never be acceptable. Someone sitting passively with a ‘homeless and hungry’ sign another matter.

Yesterday I did a straw poll of colleagues at work about attitudes to begging. All the women I spoke to said they never gave to people asking for money on the streets and the two most common reasons given was that they felt unsafe opening their purse in the street and concern that the person would use any money to buy drugs.

I don’t know Mr Singleton but reports from the Court suggest he is a man who is mentally unwell and addicted to alcohol and other drugs. I have to ask what has or will be achieved by the prosecution of people like Mr Singleton. He received a 12 month conditional discharge and told not to commit another offence.

Call me a cynic but has Mr Singleton’s circumstances changed so that he will not beg again? I wish him well but without help to address his mental health issues and his addiction he is almost certain to reoffend. I wish him well and hope that Crawley Open Door, an organisation I respect, will be able to support him to find recovery.

I support this proposal for three basic reasons:

1. Need – social housing is a safety net and a foot up. If a tenant no longer requires the accommodation to meet his or her housing need, it should be made available to someone who does.

2. Public subsidy – the subsidy that allowed the property to be built, and often the subsidy (through housing benefit) that helps pay the rent, should not be turned into profit for an individual no longer in housing need.

3. Playing into the hands of extremists – in certain parts of London extreme right wing groups are using the illegal subletting of social housing to recently arrived immigrants as ‘evidence’ that social housing discriminates against the “indigenous population”.

It is said that tenancy fraud may be accompanied by other issues such as anti-social behaviour, illegal immigration, drug cultivation and other illegal activities. It can also result in tenants who are living in a sublet property being seriously overcrowded which can do damage to both their health and the fabric of the home.
 
Social landlords have responsibility in all this. Some lack knowledge of who is living in the homes they let. A model of good practice is offered by Affinity Sutton which is one of only a handful of housing associations to employ a dedicated team to investigate tenancy fraud.  Since January 2010, they have funded their own dedicated Neighbourhood Auditor team to investigate allegations of tenancy fraud and in 2011 recovered 41 properties, up from the previous year’s total of 33.
  
Funding to combat tenancy fraud is currently paid solely to Local Authorities and it is not ringfenced.  Given that half of social housing is managed by housing associations I believe that housing associations should be funded directly to enable them to investigate tenancy fraud.

At BHT we are small enough to know first hand and by their first name the overwhelming majority of our tenants. We are able to visit routinely most tenants annually, and from April this will increase to twice a year. This forms part of our processes for auditing who is living in our homes and for ensuring that tenancy fraud is not an issue within BHT.  

Andy Winter, Richard Wilkinson and Rosalyn Demott

This week in Hastings I met Rosalyn Demott and Richard Wilkinson who are part of our Finding Futures. Finding Futures is best known for its work with young people who are not in employment, education or training. When they leave us they are usually in education and training and hopefully will progress further into employment.

But Finding Futures’ work is also focused on work with older men and women, like Rosalyn and Richard. Today I was able to present them with certificates having passed Health and Safety exams.

Rosalyn told me Finding Futures and gaining this latest certificate has given her more confidence. “I can do exams and pass them”, she said. She has passed literacy and numeracy exams and has a First Aid certificate. She said: “I want to do more exams and get more qualifications. I never knew I could do this at 56!”

Richard said it is many years since he has sat an exam. “I’m very please”, he said. “It’s given me more confidence. I’ve an interest in health and safety so I am pleased that I have done this course, passed the exam, and have now got my certificate.”

It is people like Rosalyn and Richard who inspire me and who motivate me in my work. I wish them well as they move forward in their education and training.

It can be a very difficult time of year, not least in our Addiction Services. For many residents it might have been the first Christmas and New Year in decades that they were alcohol and drug free, and is a time when residents are painfully aware of being apart from families and loved ones. Sadly, it is a time when a higher than usual rate of relapse occurs.

What was truly remarkable about this Christmas and New Year was that just one resident relapsed and left the service.

And the reason for this success? It was a combination of factors including excellent planning and preparation by staff and residents, and the determination of residents to maintain their alcohol and drug-free lifestyle. There was a further important factor: the commitment and input from volunteers throughout the holiday period, including Christmas Day itself. All the volunteers over the Christmas period are former residents of the service. They bring a positive message of recovery and an understanding of the contrasting emotions that addicts in early recovery will experience at this time of year.

Over this period many residents met up with their families in a planned way. For most family members it will have been the first Christmas in many years that they had their mother, father, sister, brother, son or daughter free from the chaos of addiction at Christmas time. What a wonderful Christmas present for the whole family.

It highlighted the warnings given by Brighton Housing Trust and others that “changes to housing benefit were urgently needed to avoid social exclusion and reduce homelessness in the city”.

What was said then is equally true today. Changes to housing benefit entitlement implemented from last week will see 5,800 homes become unaffordable to men and women on housing benefit in Brighton and Hove. That means that there will be just 13,000 homes available to rent for the 13,700 claimants in the City.

What BHT said on 9th January 2002 is worth repeating today: changes to housing benefit are urgently needed to avoid social exclusion and prevent homelessness in the city.

In the quarter from October to December 2011, 24,966 tenants in England and Wales faced eviction notices – up 11% from 22,558 in the same quarter a year ago. In the same quarter of 2011, there were nearly 11,400 tenants over two months in arrears – up 18% from the same period of 2010. At the end of 2011 there were 78,970 tenants in England and Wales in severe arrears.

I have consistently warned that the changes in housing benefit entitlement, currently being introduced, will see a significant increase in rent arrears and, consequently, homelessness.

Having proceeded in spite of warnings and evidence of increasing homelessness, the government might yet be persuaded to reconsider its policies because of the impact on private sector landlords.

There are 26,300 buy-to-let mortgages in severe arrears, more than five times as many compared with 2006.

Paul Jardine, director and receiver at Templeton LPA, said: “A growing minority of renters are falling deeper and deeper into payment difficulties, and the number of severe arrears cases is rising.”  He said buy-to-let mortgage arrears are yet to feel the impact of growing severe tenant arrears and evictions, but this would change this year.

In areas like Brighton and Hove, where the private rented sector accounts for 25% of all housing, it is the most important sector for addressing housing need. Undermining confidence in the private rented sector would be catastrophic.

*Law of Property Act Receivers act for banks and private lenders who have secured their loans by a Legal Charge (mortgage) on a property. Under the terms of the Legal Charge the lender can appoint a Receiver to deal with a property when the terms of the mortgage are not being met – usually when repayments and interest are not being paid.

In Brighton and Hove, 5,800 homes will become unaffordable for men and women on housing benefit. It means that there will be just 13,000 homes available to rent for the 13,700 claimants in the City.

Nationwide, according to the Chartered Institute, 800,000 homes will become off limits to the poor who rely on housing benefit to pay the rent.

Many organisations across the country, including BHT, have been warning that the consequences of changes to housing benefit would result in a significant increase in homelessness and rough sleeping. The figures published by the Chartered Institute provides the best forecasts to date of the impact.

In Brighton and Hove the situation will be compounded by the ‘landlords market’ which is seeing rents increasingly faster than in most other areas of the country. In the last six months, even before these changes, there has been a steep rise in rough sleeping in the City.

I have consistently warned of a ‘perfect storm’ being created, that 2012 will see a huge rise in homelessness and rough sleeping. The decision to proceed with these changes in housing benefit entitlement will usher in a year of housing and homelessness misery for hundreds of people in Brighton and Hove.

This week there has been a little, just a little, bit of good news. It has been announced that the changes in legal aid funding have been put off for six months, from an original implementation date of October 2012 to April 2013. The 10% cut in the value of funding from October 1st 2011 remains, and we continue to feel the impact of that.

At BHT we subsidise our advice services by over £100,000 each year, funding which gets harder and harder to raise.

The downsize of this delay is that uncertainty about the future continues for BHT as an organisation and for our dedicated and highly skilled staff team.

I am frequently asked what the legal aid measures are. This week’s edition of Inside Housing has a very helpful ‘low down’ which I repeat here:

“The government plans to cut the £2.1 billion annual legal aid budget by £350 million annually

“Fees solicitors can claim for legal aid in civil cases were cut by 10% in October
Advice will only be available in cases in which households could be, or have been, made homeless or where serious disrepair is threatening health

“Legal aid for debt advice will only be available when a tenant’s home is at ‘immediate threat’

” Struggling tenants may also be hit by cuts to legal aid and in other cases, such as … appeals against welfare benefit cuts …”

I recently had the privilege of listening to a 61 year old client of our Brighton Advice Centre talk about the misery she had experienced because of the actions of seven different debt collection agencies. Our debt advisor’s knowledge of the law (gained after many years of practice including a period working for a debt collection agency itself!) was able to demonstrate that the original debt of £1,000 – now inflated to over £6,000 because of ‘fees, charges and penalties’ – was not, in fact, owed.

Our client is now able to sleep at night, answer her phone and door, and is beginning to enjoy life again after several years of suffering. How can you put a price on that?

For many years there has been a debate about the accuracy of such counts. It can be, at best, a snapshot on a particular day and includes just those who the ‘counter’s have found. I would suspect that the number is somewhere between that number and 50.

So what is happening on our streets? Well, first, there is better joint working between organisations than at any point in my 26 years at BHT. Staff at Brighton and Hove City Council, CRI and BHT, amongst others, should be applauded for what they are doing to tackle this issue. Without this work the numbers would be much higher.

The numbers are probably higher than the 37 counted, but not that much higher. In a recent 2 week period at our Rough Sleepers sessions at First Base, we saw 19 men and women who had no previous experience of sleeping rough. We were able to help many of them and in some cases helped them to relocate back to areas from which they had come, believing there would be more opportunities for housing and jobs along the south coast.

Council leader Bill Randall (who has over 40 years experience as a journalist and housing campaigner before he became a councillor) has said, “Up until recently we have been very successful in helping people to access accommodation in the private rented sector. But with rents increasing sharply this option is becoming unaffordable for many people on low incomes, and the forthcoming changes to housing benefit are likely to make things worse rather than better in this respect.

“What I find it really galling in this context is the number of empty properties around the city. Our empty property team does a fantastic job, but it’s often an uphill battle because their hands are tied by legislation that is weighted too heavily in favour of property owners.”

I think he is absolutely right in his analysis. But I would add another factor which, if correct and when combined with the shortage of homes and the impact of housing benefit changes, could create a ‘perfect storm’ that would see a massive increase in people sleeping on the streets of Brighton and Hove. That is the impact of the Olympic Games and rumours that homeless people will be given travel passes to anywhere in the country, including the south coast, to get them off the streets of the capital.

If the figure goes above 100, possibly well above 100, it will not be the fault of the local authority nor those of us who work day in, day out, to help people off the streets. And it is important that fingers are not pointed at the City Council in this respect. Almost alone in the country, Brighton and Hove City Council (in a decision supported by councillors of all parties) protected the Supporting People programme which works with the most vulnerable men and women in the City, including those who we are helping off the street.

37 people on the street is too many. One would be too many. However, I am confident that everything is being done to help entrenched rough sleepers off the street, and those new to rough sleeping don’t have to face a second night out.

I close with another quote from Bill Randall, “Homelessness is a human tragedy that affects the most vulnerable in our society”. It is a human tragedy for each and every person who sleeps on our streets and I fear that the numbers will increase significantly over the next year.

Social housing is there as a safety net for those in the greatest need. But such is the shortage of social housing, many people in need will never win this particular ‘lottery’. By allowing those who have been lucky enough to get council housing to buy their home with subsidy seems as though they are winning the lottery twice over.

But the real issue for me is the loss of housing for local people in housing need. Social housing is the one form of housing that is reserved to meet local housing need. There is nothing to stop someone who buys their council house from selling it to someone from outside Brighton and Hove. Fewer houses to meet housing need locally, potentially more people moving to the area.