The Curse of the Humble Email

This is the text of an article published in today’s (19 February) Brighton Argus Business section:

One of the more interesting Brighton people on Twitter, Richard Denyer-Bewick (@RichDB_Brighton), recently asked for people’s top tips on handling too many work emails. A curse of the modern era is the ever growing avalanche of emails. I receive up to 100 each day. If I were to spend an average of 5 minutes on each, reading and responding, I would spend more than a full working day, each day, merely feeding the Email Beast.

BHT’s Finance Director, Nick Childs, often bemoans the fact that by mid afternoon he hasn’t been able to start work on a particular project, distracted as he often is by emails and other disturbances. He has now introduced a new discipline, only responding to emails on a Friday. I read somewhere recently that this approach results in people sending far fewer emails and taking greater responsibility themselves.

Valerie Pearce at Brighton and Hove City Council says she receives between 200 and 300 emails each day. Her tip is to “prioritise and delete”.

It is so easy for people to delegate upwards via email. I sometimes get copied in to emails that I really don’t need to see. What infuriates me is when copied into a long email, there is a request for action or a response requested buried deep towards the end of the email.

I tell colleagues not to assume I read emails where I am just copied in. They cannot rely on me acting on them unless the request is made explicit. If the sender wants a response they need to keep it short and to the point. I refer some emails back asking the sender to summarise their message and to make it clear what they want. It is amazing how this can concentrate the mind and all of a sudden my input is no longer required.

I often refer emails back when colleagues, often well-meaning, forward an email to me with several attachments and a simple message along the lines of “some really interesting things here…”.

I try to clear all outstanding emails weekly.  This can consume two or three hours on a Sunday, something I, at times, resent.

I survive the plague of emails mainly by the incredible support I get from my PA who screens, deletes and responds to around half of all incoming emails. She often will prepare a two line synopsis of what is needed or suggesting an action she can take.

I realise how lucky I am to have the support of a first rate PA. Without her, I would be crushed by the weight of emails, something originally designed to make our lives simpler!

Investing is local services means that ‘sticky money’ stays in town

I am sure that I was not alone in being shocked by the news that Derby City Council is cutting its Supporting People budget by 83%. Gillian Sewell, Chief Executive of YMCA Derbyshire, which will lose 84% of its funding from the council in April, said: “The effects of the proposed cuts will be measured in a potentially disastrous rise in homelessness, rough sleeping, crime, anti-social behaviour, ruined lives and human suffering in Derby. Furthermore, many of those facing housing crisis will have to be housed in unsafe, inappropriate B&B or similar accommodation at an increased cost to the Council.”

In Brighton and Hove we have been most fortunate in having successive administrations, of all political colours, who have recognised the importance of protecting services for the most vulnerable members of our society.  This has to be commended, particularly in such challenging economic times.

Some councils have gone down the road of combining all contracts into one and inviting national providers to bid in the misguided belief that the council will get better value for money.  There may be some savings but the long-term cost to the community, and very often other parts of the same council, can be huge.

There is great value in services being provided by a number of agencies including client choice, different approaches that might be more effective with different clients, diverse skills, and the sustainability of organisations who are local employers.

Local providers often bring additional charitable funding to services and service development, and they often have local infrastructure that adds value that outside organisations will not have.  An example is the Support for Housing service that we run in partnership with Southdown Housing Association.  Because we own our head office in Brighton, we were able to convert the ground floor to a drop in at a modest cost that we were able to bear.  An outside agency would not have the same commitment nor the local infrastructure to do something similar.

There is also value in investing in local providers given the local multiplier which sees money spent by local commissioner staying within the local economy.  Some refer to this as “sticky money”.  By investing in local services provided by local agencies, money is recycled within the local economy.

The future looks bleak for our colleagues in Derby.  My thoughts are with them at this incredibly difficult time.

The Big Interview (Argus 10th November 2012)

On Saturday, November 10th, the Brighton Argus carried an interview with me.  The focus was housing in Brighton. Unfortunately, the Big Interview (as the weekly item is called) is not posted online.  So here is the text of the interview:

What are the main housing challenges faced by Brighton and Hove?

Simply, there’s a shortage of supply to meet the ever-increasing demand for housing.  The rising cost of the housing that is available is making it increasingly difficult for people to meet their housing costs. The increasing demand for homes in the City is partly due to the increasing number of single person households, and partly due to more people are moving here.

Brighton has a low wage economy.  Those jobs that are available, often in the service and retail sectors, are subject to enormous competition.  It is not uncommon that graduates from our two universities end up in non-graduate jobs in order to remain in the City.

While people joke that this has led to us having the most qualified baristas in the country, the harsh reality is that this trend excludes less qualified, local staff out of the jobs market. Low wages, coupled with high housing costs, is not a healthy mix if we want to live in a City at ease with itself.

Do we face any pressures that other areas don’t?

Brighton and Hove is sea- and land-locked.  There are relatively few sites on which to build new homes.  It has a thriving economy and is an attractive place to live and work.  The challenge for the City is its ability to accommodate the businesses that will provide jobs, and the homes for people to live in.

I really hope that we get the balance right between jobs and homes.  I would hate to see Brighton become a dormitory town, with most residents commuting to jobs elsewhere.  If I wanted to live in a town like that I would move to Worthing!

I would support the building of housing between Falmer and Woodingdean, but that is unlikely to be agreed.  So if we can’t go south and cannot encroach on the National Park, the only way, as Yazz sang in the 1980’s, is up!  We need a debate on the number of high rise developments that the City needs.

Unfortunately, the debate on tall buildings has been skewed by the controversies surrounding the ‘Roaring Forties’ tower in the Marina and the King Alfred proposals.

Where we have a real advantage over other areas is the range and effectiveness of support services.  Where elsewhere in the country such services are being decimated, in Brighton and Hove, with all party support, most have been protected, and homelessness has been prevented.

What part do you and Brighton Housing Trust play in addressing these issues?

One of the most important things we do is to prevent homelessness.  Last year, because of our work, mainly through our Advice Centre in Queen’s Road, we helped 4,116 households from becoming homeless.

Unfortunately, because of changes to the Legal Aid system, from next April, we will be able to help fewer people unless we can attract funding from new sources.  The visible consequence will be more people living on the streets.

In addition to preventing homelessness, we do a lot of work addressing those issues that may have led people to homelessness. We help people to prepare for housing – what it takes to be a good tenant, how to work with, not against, landlords, and how to increase the housing opportunities available to people.

We provide relatively few homes but the work we do in preventing homelessness and finding practical solutions for people in housing need means that BHT’s contribution to resolving issues relating to housing demand is far greater than our modest size.

What would you most want to see happen to tackle these challenges? Can local or national Government help?

In Brighton and Hove, local government could help by agreeing to build 750 homes at Toads Hole Valley.  Perhaps more homes should be considered on this site, a thousand or fifteen hundred, but I doubt there would be support for that.

The government should invest in truly affordable social housing.  The campaign group, Homes for Britain, says that every £1 spent on housing puts £3 into the economy.  And for every £1 spent on construction, government gets 56p back in reduced welfare payments.

Over the lifetime of this government, £35 billion will be spent of housing benefit, yet just £4.5 billion is being spent on building.  It is economic madness.

The right to buy doesn’t help.  Over the last 25 years housing has moved from being affordable and available to meet local demand, to being available only at unaffordable rents.  I heard the other day about a former council house, once with a rent of £120 per week, now being let out privately for £750 per week.

Are more people coming to you in crisis now than in the past and is that down to the recession or other factors? i.e. are economic circumstances driving people onto the streets?

Over the last two years we have seen a sharp increase in the number of people sleeping on the streets in Brighton.  That appears to have steadied over the last year partly due to excellent work being undertaken by Brighton and Hove City Council, CRI, Sussex Central YMCA, BHT and others.

I am amazed at the resourcefulness and sacrifices people make in order to keep themselves and their families in one piece.  We regularly come across single people, holding down jobs, but living in cars because they can’t afford housing.  Parents, usually women, are going without food, to ensure that their children have what they need or to heat their homes.

The latest increases in fuel charges might well push some households over the edge, and there is plenty more bad news yet to come.

So do you foresee the situation getting worse in the immediate future? What is your worst fear? What is your best hope?

The introduction of Universal Credit from next year, changes to the Social Fund and further restrictions on housing benefit, will likely result in more people getting into difficulty.

The plan with Universal Credit is to merge into one payment most of the benefits received by a household.  Universal Credit will be paid monthly, leading to new challenges for households to stretch the cash throughout a longer period.  It will also incorporate housing benefit payments.  This could lead to an increase in rent arrears resulting in losses for landlords and an increase in evictions.

The Department of Works and Pensions expects 80% of claims to be made online.  At BHT we have carried out our own research and have found that 71% of our clients appear to have the means and support to make claims online.  But when you take away the facilities and support BHT provides, that number falls to just 19%, similar to the assessment the DWP itself has made.

My biggest fear is that more people will fall foul of the new welfare regime and will lose their benefit entitlement, sometimes for prolonged periods.  This will result in three H’s: hardship, hypothermia and hunger.

The challenge for charities like BHT is how we can find a twenty first century solution to poverty.  Food banks are already doing a roaring trade. I fear we will soon see the opening of food kitchens.  A depressing note on which to finish.

The work of BHT’s Advice Centre: preventing homelessness, reducing inequality, community cohesion

This morning I reviewed the impact made by BHT’s Advice Centre in Brighton. Here are some basic statistics. I would ask you to reflect on the difference we make to the City and the consequences should this service close:

• 35% clients belong to a BME group
• 42% clients have either a disability, addiction or suffers from mental or physical ill health
• 55% of housing clients are in “priority need” and so the possible responsibility of the City Council.

Positive Outcomes (expressed as a percent) of Cases Closed during 2011/12

• Housing Advice 88% (This includes homeless prevention, conditions improved, accommodation found, better able to manage affairs)
• Housing court duty 85% (This includes homelessness prevented through stopping a possession order or execution of bailiff’s warrant)
• Accommodation Advice and Assistance 60% (This includes Homelessness prevention, PRS Accommodation found or sustained. These statistics are based on tracking 317 clients over 12 months).
• Welfare Benefits 95% (This includes clients who received increased or backdated benefit, and who are now better abled to manage their affairs)
• Debt 87% (This includes debts negotiated to an affordable plan, client better able to manage debt, debt reduced/written off etc.)
• Immigration 78% (This includes being granted Leave to Remain, refugee status, citizenship, family reunion etc. and includes 63% of appeals won)

Our legal services directly contributes to City strategies on:

• Prevention of homelessness and rough sleeping by reducing the numbers in temporary accommodation.  In 2011/12 homelessness was prevented or accommodation found in 1,531 of cases above. A 70% homelessness prevention rate.
• Reducing Inequality through helping to lift clients out of poverty (often suffering multiple problems, for example mental health, addictions, offenders, street homelessness, anti-social behaviour, poverty)
• Community cohesion through immigration advice helping families achieve stability and live together

‘A crisis in our midst’ – my response to the article in today’s Argus

The Argus today has a major article on rough sleeping and suggests a lack of provision in  Brighton and Hove. It was unfortunate that the article made no reference to much of the excellent work being carried out in the City. This is the text of the letter I have sent to the Argus in response to the article:

“I was disappointed at your coverage of the challenges we are facing in Brighton and Hove this winter due to the increase in homelessness (‘A crisis in our midst’ 26 October 2012).

“The report failed to mention any of the work undertaken by several homelessness charities, including Brighton Housing Trust. Each winter, in partnership with Brighton and Hove City Council and other charities, including CRI, we operate a severe weather shelter. Last year we opened two such shelters to cater for the growing need, and this year we will be able to cater for 45 people each night with other provision in the City for a further 15 rough sleepers.

“It is also grossly unfair to accuse the City Council of hiding the scale of the problem, as you do on your front page. In Brighton and Hove we are fortunate to have a very enlightened Council. Under the current and previous administrations funding for services for homeless men and women has been protected. This approach enjoys all party support. While up and down the country services for homeless people have been cut to the bone, in our City funding has been protected.

“The number of people sleeping rough increased significantly a year or so ago, but the number has become more stable thanks to the work of CRI’s Rough Sleepers Team and BHT’s First Base Day Centre who find accommodation and relocate people to areas with better opportunities for housing.

“The joint work between BHT and CRI through the No Second Night Out initiative has prevented a significant number of people brand new to rough sleeping from remaining on the street.

“Elsewhere, people look to Brighton and Hove as a centre of best practice. On the day your article was published, my colleague, John Holmstrom, was speaking at a conference in London on how the national rise in homelessness and rough sleeping is being successfully combatted in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings.

“The Argus is right to highlight the issue but it is disappointing when the good work being done locally is, at best, ignored, and at worse, negated.”

Four proposals for tackling the housing shortage in Brighton & Hove including 750 homes at Toads Hole Valley

Nobby Clarke worked on the railways in Sussex for much of his life.  He was also a councillor in Brighton for almost 50 years and his proudest moment was when he became Mayor of his adopted town. He used to write a column for a local paper quaintly entitled ‘Twixt Down and Sea’ and one of his greatest passions was housing.

Twixt Down and Sea could summarise why there are few options available to tackle the housing shortage in Brighton and Hove, hemmed in as it is between the South Downs National Park and the sea.

But because there is an ever-increasing demand for homes in the City, compromises must be made and something must be done. And something can be done. Here are four measures for tackling the housing shortage in Brighton and Hove:

Go up: if we can’t go north, south, east or west, we can go up.  There is a presumption against tall buildings but perhaps, with good design, some should be allowed.  I think there has been a missed opportunity not putting 20 stories of student housing above the Open Market.  There are excellent transport links to the universities, outdoor space on the Level, and would have helped to regenerate London Road.

Greater density: my colleague at BHT, John Holmstrom, has coined the phrase ‘Transition Housing’. It describes a new type of housing, compact, self-contained kitchenette and shower room, with communal facilities such as shared laundries and allotments on the roof. It would be short term accommodation aimed at those struggling to compete in the housing market, allowing them to create a track-record as tenants and save for deposits. BHT is involved in a scheme that incoporates transitional housing but early indications suggest that we might run into difficulties with the planners.  That would be a shame since there is private finance available to enable the development of this housing which would be used for social purpose.

Empty properties: the City Council does a fine job in this regard but there is more that could be done, not least in properties above shops.  Robbust action should be taken when homes are left vacant or allowed to fall into disrepair.

Toads Hole Valley: this is a political hot potatoe at present, but I can’t see why.  There is a desperate need for housing and this last undeveloped site MUST be used for housing. It is an unkempt site and is suitable for development.  It is has been suggested that 750 homes could be built on the site and is a real opportunity to include hundreds of council or housing association properties.  If this opportunity is not taken up, future generations will not thank us.

PS: There is confusion over the name: is it Toad’s, Toads or Toad Hole Valley?  Different authorities use different variations.

Are we facing a Summer of Discontent because of the London Olympics 2012?

There has been some discussion in the media regarding the increase in homelessness and rough sleeping in Brighton and Hove. On BBC Sussex today (Wednesday 27th July) it was reported that Sussex Police have said that the number of rough sleepers has increased from 42 to 72 over the last year, although the City Council’s estimate is that the figure is 42.

Meanwhile, the Brighton Argus has reported that “homeless people are heading to Brighton and Hove to escape a purge of London’s streets ahead of the Olympics. Charities have reported ‘harassment’ of rough sleepers in the capital as London mayor Boris Johnson looks to eradicate homelessness before the 2012 Games.”

I don’t know if that is actually happening, although I would be surprised if such an initiative had started this far out from the start of the Olympics which commence a year today.

I do know that homeless people were ‘removed’ from the streets in Atlanta and Sydney before previous Olympic Games, and I was in Cape Town last year just before the start of the Football World Cup and there was very definitely measures being taken to ensure that homeless people, particularly street children, were not in evidence.

The Olympics may see an increase in homeless people arriving in Brighton from London. But as likely, perhaps more likely, will be the combination of a number of factors (as well as traditional reasons for high demand such as people wanting to move to Brighton, students staying on after graduation, changing demographics and household sizes, etc.) that will see a significant increase in homelessness in Brighton and Hove. They include:

• Changes to the Local Housing Allowance
• Restrictions being placed on housing benefit eligibility for single people under the age of 35
• Inability of first time buyers to get a mortgage
• Anticipated increase in unemployment
• Changes to Legal Aid (that will exclude people from getting advice they need on welfare benefits, debt and many housing cases).

I have previously described this as the creation of a ‘Perfect Storm’. Most of these factors will come into effect in the next 12 months, and if the predictions relating to the Olympics come about, next summer will see a potentially explosive situation in Brighton.

I have confidence in the willingness and ability of Brighton and Hove City Council to try to mitigate this situation. We have been fortunate that both current and former administrations, indeed all parties, on the City Council have had a high commitment to addressing the challenges of housing and homelessness. I also think that there is better co-operation between all agencies than ever before. But in spite of this, the ‘Perfect Storm’ is being created outside of Brighton and Hove, and there is only so much that we collectively can do.

What is needed is a rethink by government of the impact of those measures for which they are responsible, and by the Mayor of London regarding fall-out from the London Games. Otherwise, we will see a Summer of Discontent next year.

Christmas: A period of great happiness, companionship and sharing … and of loneliness, loss and sadness

I asked a colleague the other day about his plans for Christmas. He said his own and his partner’s parents, his brother and several other friends and relatives would be descending on his home for several days of festivities, good food and great companionship.

The idea of a dozen or more people in my own home is my personal Nightmare at Christmas! I am no Scrooge, and “bah humbug” is not part of my lexicon, but I prefer a quiet, relaxing time. There are people who I love who I would have liked to have seen at Christmas but for various reasons, including distance, were present only in thought.

For many, however, Christmas is a lonely time and increasingly harsh winters makes it particularly difficult. I would ask you to consider for a moment those people living without shelter. How do they survive with temperatures well below freezing for days on end? In spite of the very effective efforts by local authorities to end rough sleeping, there remain a small number of men and women who still sleep out in the coastal towns in the south-east.

In Brighton and Hove we are very fortunate to have relatively few people on the streets, a testimony to the work that has been led by Brighton and Hove City Council. But when temperatures fall well below freezing, a range of organisations including Brighton Housing Trust, the City Council, CRI, and the Salvation Army, come together to provide emergency shelter for those who might otherwise die as a result of the cold.

The Cold Weather Shelter traditionally opens around Christmas or early in the New Year, but this year it opened in late November. And while the shelter has in previous years remained open for 7 to 10 days, this year it has already been open for almost 3 weeks. I am always hugely impressed by the dedication and selflessness of staff from BHT and other organisations who offer to work throughout the night to provide shelter which is safe, warm and dry.

Christmas Day presents its own particular challenges, not normally related to the weather. For most, as with my colleague and his dozen or so relatives, Christmas is about family and it is about children. But for many of the clients who live in BHT properties, Christmas can be a reminder, not of what they have, but what they have lost. For some, Christmas is not a reminder of happy times but of times of neglect, deprivation and violence. It is known that incidents of domestic violence increases at Christmas. One can understand why the pain of Christmas Past is anaethnatised by alcohol and drugs.

For others, Christmas Present is a time to reflect on what might have been had their lives not been derailed through mental ill-health, addiction, family breakdown, violence and homelessness. Many years ago I worked at St Dunstan’s, the home for blind ex-servicemen. Extra effort was made to make Christmas the happiest possible time. Similar efforts continue today in all support services, many of which will remain open throughout the Christmas period.

BHT itself had almost 100 members of staff and volunteers working on Christmas Day, and many more over the holiday period. Each one tried to make Christmas that little bit more special for our clients.

We are all familiar with the expression ‘a dog is for life, not just for Christmas’ and we all understand the message that animal charities are trying to make. It is one thing to be excited by a cute puppy on Christmas morning, but the responsibility of dog ownership is a year-round and expensive undertaking. I sometimes feel that homelessness has become a ‘Christmas issue’ when the harsh reality is that it exists year-round.

While many reflect about homelessness over Christmas, I would ask you to think about homelessness on another day of the year, perhaps 23rd June. “Why 23rd June?” you may ask. There’s actually nothing special about that date other than it is another day in the year when people will be homeless or lonely. The work of charities like BHT, CRI, Sussex Central YMCA, Brighton YMCA, to name just a few, continues throughout the year.

That is just one reason why we are grateful to the Argus Christmas Appeal for its support to our clients, from January to December.  You can support the BHT Christmas Appeal by sending a donation to BHT, 144 London Road, Brighton BN1 4PH or go online at by clicking this link.

(This is the text of an article that appeared in the Brighton Argus on 30th December 2010)

Making Christmas the Season of Good Will rather than the Season of Waste

About a year ago, in the run up to Christmas, I was approached by a journalist who asked whether left-over food should be given to homeless people.  The question was in the context of the amount of food thrown away each day.

Of course I said no, that as a civilised society in a developed country we should ensure that all people we should be able to ensure that everyone should have fresh, nutritious food.

In today’s post I received an excellent leaflet from Brighton and Hove City Council about reducing waste this Christmas.  It contained some shocking statistics: 1.3 million pots of unopened yoghurt are thrown away every day, along with 440,000 ready meals, 5500 whole chickens, 4.4 million apples, 5.1 million potatoes, and 1.6 million bananas.

In fact, 8.3 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year by UK households!

When speaking to the journalist last year I made a suggestion which I repeat agin this year.  If everyone made a conscious decision to go with one or two items less on Christmas day, most of us would not notice or miss it.  But if the the amount you saved was donated to a good cause, it would be noticed, would be apreciated, and would make a difference.

Choose a charity – an international aid charity, a children’s charity, or even a local homelessness charity.  If donations come to BHT, it would help us support people through First Base Day Centre both at Christmas and throughout the year.

To make a donation, please a cheque to BHT, 144 London Road, Brighton, BN1 4PH, or to make a donation online, please click here.

Transitions at BHT’s 7th Annual Client Involvement Event

Last Friday saw BHT’s 7th Annual Client Involvement Event at the Brighthelm Centre, and it was bigger and better than ever.  This event is now a major date, not only on the BHT calendar, but for several of our partners. The theme this year was ‘Transitions’.

The Event is organised by the BHT Consultancy, a team made up of 24 clients from throughout BHT, and supported (he wouldn’t allow me to say “led”) by BHT’s Client Involvement Co-ordinator, Anthony Irtelli.  While the Event has a very high profile, it is just one of many involvement activities that put clients at the heart of everything we do at BHT.  Involvement in BHT includes clients sitting on interview panels, helping to design new services alongside members of staff, review what we do and how we do it, and increasingly helping to deliver our services.

As for the Event itself, at least 200 clients attended, and there were information and other stalls from most of BHT’s services, as well as stalls from our partners including Rise (formerly the Women’s Refuge Project), the City Council (the anti-social behaviour team, Refugee Forum, Community Skills and Learning, and Community Health Trainers), Whitehawk Inn, Service User Network, Friends Centre, the Credit Union, MACS (Money Advice and Community Support), and the Brighton & Hove Community & Voluntary Sector Forum.  Apologies if I have left anyone out.

I was due to make some welcoming comments but everyone seemed to be having such a good time I thought I would give it a miss this year but by popular demand (actually a couple of clients said they wanted to hear what I had to say) I was did make a short speech welcoming everyone.  More importantly, I was able to affirm the central role of clients in BHT’s work.  Any organisation that thinks it can ignore or just pay lip-service to client involvement are short-sighted and failing to make the most of one of the most precious resources available to any organisation.

So thanks to the Consultancy, to ANthony, and to everyone who came on Friday afternoon.