No Second Night Out Scheme is Extended
- 14 Dec
London mayor Boris Johnson is expanding the scheme to tackle rough sleeping, and spending an extra £5m on a third hub.
The no second night out scheme will be extended from two hubs to three. A £5 million contract was put out to tender last month, ending the uncertainty for the flagship scheme.
News of the expansion emerged as Mr Johnson admitted he is going to struggle to hit a target of ending rough sleeping by 31 December.In the tendering document, for the initial stage of bidding, the Greater London Authority noted a rise in rough sleeping, and so as a result of the increase in demand, both hubs have had to close on a number of occasions.
The NSNO project will end as a pilot on 31 May next year and the new contract will run from 1 June 2013 until 31 March 2015.
The GLA also wants a single provider to provide at least 30 temporary bed spaces in total to ensure people are not in the hubs for longer than 72 hours. The project currently has 34 bed spaces.
Mr Johnson earlier this year pledged to end rough sleeping, defined as no-one new to the streets spending a second night there, in the capital by the end of 2012. However, during mayor's question time last month, Mr Johnson said it was very difficult to achieve the end of rough sleeping.
Government-endorsed figures from the database CHAIN for September to October this year showed of the 901 new people to London's streets, 17 per cent spent a second night sleeping rough.
Some 47 per cent (2,696) of the total number of rough sleepers (5,678) spent only one night on the streets in 2011/12 compared with 37 per cent (1,457) out of a total of 3,975 the year before (2010/11).
CHAIN figures also showed a 43 per cent increase in rough sleepers in 2011/12 to 5,678 from the year before.
Source: Inside Housing
Related articles
- 11 Sep
New service to support homeless people in Birmingham
A new dedicated Homeless Street Triage car will be responding to the rising number of calls reporting homelessness, begging and anti-social drinking in the city, reports 24dash.In the last year –...
- 09 Sep
Gym in Kent hopes to improve health and fitness of homeless people
Riverside is a specialist in working with single homeless people to help them get their lives back on track and into accommodation. Their new project, a gymnasium, has been funded by the Riverside...
- 08 Sep
The cost of homelessness in Hackney doubles
Figures have shown that the cost of homelessness in 2009/10 was £3,092,255 compared to £7,167,440 in 2014/15, with a cut on staff spending from £3,239,653 to £2,608,491 reports 24dash.Hackney...
- 04 Sep
Two homelessness services to be investigated
The Scottish Housing Regulator is set to investigate every aspect of services offered by Dumfries and Galloway Council, whilst also examining how homeless people access help and support at Scottish...
- 03 Sep
Homeless project for young people under threat due to cuts
Platform for Life was expected to attract interest from numerous housing associations with its scheme to convert properties into accommodation for young people in further education, training or work,...
- 01 Sep
Charities warns Irish government of homelessness crisis
Social Justice Ireland is calling for a new funding system that will meet the demand and reveal that only 20 council homes for families have been completed within the first three months of this year,...
- 26 Aug
Newspaper office to become a centre for homeless people
The old office for the Doncaster Free Press is being transformed into flats and other facilities for people who are homeless, reports Hold the Front Page. The building is being turned into...
- 20 Aug
Cuts leaving people in Cheltenham needing homelessness support
Bosses at CCP and Cheltenham Borough Council have said the “devastating impact” of benefit cuts in the town are causing issues for many people, report the Gloucestershire Echo.Over the past few...
- 19 Aug
Concern that homelessness in Cambridge is at ‘tipping point’
Not only do figures show a rise in quarterly numbers by 24 households, they also reveal that over 350 cases were placed in temporary accommodation over the last year, which was a rise of 50 cases on...
- 11 Aug
Charities say Wales is “setting an example” for homelessness
A joint report by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has praised Welsh laws that are trying to address the issues of homelessness, reports the BBC.However they warn that the removal of...
Revenue Optimisation "Coventry Mind has recently worked through a programme of Housing Benefit optimisation with Support Solutions and in particular their specialist Danny Key. Throughout the whole process Danny demonstrated that he has excellent knowledge of the subject and was able to put forward a convincing case for the increase in funding to the Housing Benefit team. Coventry Mind has already and will continue to recommend Support Solutions and in particular this service to other organisations." Steven Hill - Director of Central Services
