When the Government’s Homelessness Policy Statement was published in February of this year Minister Jan O’Sullivan established a high-level three-person oversight group for the purpose of reviewing the approach being advocated in the Statement, identifying obstacles and proposing solutions.
The Oversight Group is chaired by Mark Kennedy (Mazars) and includes Sylda Langford (former Civil Servant) and Tony Fahey (UCD). The oversight group has been meeting with representatives of both the government and non-government sectors since its establishment. The Group’s first report contains initial observations and recommendations for meeting the target of ending long-term homelessness by the end of 2016.
Among the main recommendations contained in the report are:
a) The establishment of a high-level implementation team to be charged with achieving the goal of ending long-term homelessness and the incidence of rough sleeping by 2016. The team will bring together the major state actors dealing with homelessness – the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, key local authorities, the HSE and the Department of Social Protection. The high-level team, supported by an implementation unit, will report directly to Minister O’Sullivan and will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of permanent housing and necessary support services for people who are homeless.
b) The high-level implementation team will also prepare and publish a structured plan to deliver a housing-led response to homelessness. The plan will, among other goals, set measurable and adequate interim goals for the acquisition, leasing and refurbishment of suitable properties, the planned closure of shelter-type accommodation and the securing of suitable tenancies in the private rented sector.
c) The plan will also outline the necessary steps to close temporary emergency units in a timely manner, while ensuring that adequate short-term provision is maintained to meet the needs of those requiring this intervention and ensuring an end to rough sleeping.
d) The high-level implementation team, supported by the Minister, should ensure a supply of permanent accommodation is ring-fenced for people who are homeless. The report recommends a number of actions including:
Bringing long-term vacant local authority houses back into use
Updating the social housing leasing scheme to make it more effective
Mandating the HFA to create specific lending products to support housing provision for homeless persons.
Requesting local authorities and approved housing bodies to provide targets for the dedication of housing to homeless persons each year.
Requesting that NAMA identify appropriate single or small groups of property that are currently vacant or will become vacant up to 2016 and ringfencing these for homeless persons.
Introducing an integrated Social Housing Rental Service.