Conclusion 5

Tackling homelessness has long been hampered by the absence of a joined up, cross-government approach. Each of the UK devolved administrations has an overarching homelessness strategy or action plan. By contrast, there is no strategy or target for homelessness in England, despite this Committee having recommended in 2017 that a cross-government strategy be published. The Government agreed with this recommendation and said it would be implemented by July 2018. In the continued absence of such a strategy, the work of government departments can lack coordination. For example, there are multiple funding streams that can be used to tackle homelessness, which can be challenging for local authorities to administer. And we are dismayed to hear that local authorities looking to acquire temporary accommodation for homeless households still sometimes find that the Home Office has outbid them to accommodate asylum seekers in the area. The Home Office says it will now withdraw its interest if it hears that a local authority is seeking to acquire the same accommodation. The Government has now created an inter-ministerial group on homelessness, whose officials group is chaired by MHCLG. While it 6 expects to produce a strategy in 2025, we are unclear how this arrangement will achieve results that the existing cross-government boards with a remit relevant to homelessness have failed to achieve. recommendation In its Treasury Minute response, MHCLG should provide the Committee with further details of how its proposed cross-government homelessness strategy will generate practical improvements, including through: a. a consolidation of the funding to tackle homelessness into far fewer streams; b. eliminating competition between local authorities and the Home Office for temporary accommodation; and c. learning appropriate lessons from the UK devolved administrations. d. implementing the exemption from the local connection or residency test for all veterans, care leavers under 25 years,