A
Ardross
Guest
The BBC is running a season on homelessness and are showing 40 years on Cathy Come Home again at 11pm on BBC4 .
The grim thing is that 40 years on despite Government statistics homelessness is still prevalant. The Government have this trick called the Homelessness Prevention strategy - this is a laudable objective as it requires local authorities to take steps to try and stop people becoming homeless . Many local authorities however, use it as a means of fobbing homeless people off , for example gatekeeping where an officer is used to carry out a preliminary check before people are even allowed to apply as homeless , making appointments weeks in advance when the law requires an immediate response.
Homeless people are often left in dreadful hostels in cramped accommodation for weeks on end . Many find themselves living next door in hostels to drug users, striuggling alcoholics and chaotic families . Living in such accommodation often has a bad effect on children and can lead to frustration and upset such as shown in Cathy Come Home . Those who express it and lose their temper will often be declared as guilty of anti social behaviour and thrown out of the hostel and declared to be intentionally homeless.
Although the Children Act requires local authorities to do everything to keep families together the House of Lords has still ruled that their powers to provide accommodation outside the homelessness legislation can be exercised in a way that breaks up the fmaily i.e providing accommodation to children but not their parents .
It isn't just history.
The grim thing is that 40 years on despite Government statistics homelessness is still prevalant. The Government have this trick called the Homelessness Prevention strategy - this is a laudable objective as it requires local authorities to take steps to try and stop people becoming homeless . Many local authorities however, use it as a means of fobbing homeless people off , for example gatekeeping where an officer is used to carry out a preliminary check before people are even allowed to apply as homeless , making appointments weeks in advance when the law requires an immediate response.
Homeless people are often left in dreadful hostels in cramped accommodation for weeks on end . Many find themselves living next door in hostels to drug users, striuggling alcoholics and chaotic families . Living in such accommodation often has a bad effect on children and can lead to frustration and upset such as shown in Cathy Come Home . Those who express it and lose their temper will often be declared as guilty of anti social behaviour and thrown out of the hostel and declared to be intentionally homeless.
Although the Children Act requires local authorities to do everything to keep families together the House of Lords has still ruled that their powers to provide accommodation outside the homelessness legislation can be exercised in a way that breaks up the fmaily i.e providing accommodation to children but not their parents .
It isn't just history.
the reason given by most was that the dogs can't help themselves which is true, yet they all seemed to think that the reason most lived on the streets was of their own choosing & they could just walk into council offices etc & get housed if they wanted too :blink: its scary that this is the opinion of the general public.