End Rough Sleeping In One Year – Impossible?
I want to end rough sleeping in Greater Manchester, this has been my aim for nearly 2 decades. But let's be honest, you have heard all this before from people who want your vote. It was only six years ago that Mayor Andy Burnham told us all he would eradicate this problem in three years – we all clapped and praised the man for saving the city. Hail King of the North!
I was running a rough sleeping project in Manchester city centre at this time. I was not political so I reached out to Andy so I could offer my help and experience. It took a while, but eventually, his two deputies met with me. The meeting was a complete waste of time. Ivan Lewis MP basically called me a liar for stating facts he did not like. He said he knew better than me based on walking through the city centre every day to the train station while looking at the homeless.
This is a story for another day - but his career ends with him being suspended from the Labour Party for sexual harassment. Luckily for me, he only glanced at my groin at our meeting and did not touch it. Joke.
I attended one of the Mayor's new partnership meetings to see how he was involving other agencies and charities. It was another complete waste of time. I sat with a group of fools to discuss turning Piccadilly Gardens into a drug-friendly space – complete with drug testing stations and paramedics on constant call. I am sure the Mayor rejected this stupid idea as quickly as I would have done. I realised at this meeting that Andy already had a plan, he was box-ticking with these meetings and had no intentions of listening to anyone. He had his advisors he trusted. Unfortunately for the rough sleepers of Greater Manchester, they were the very same people who had been in charge of rough sleeping for years.
I wanted Andy to be successful, and I still do when it comes to ending rough sleeping. He has had some success in his six years in charge for the millions he has spent. The number of rough sleepers is not as high as it once was and this is down to his project – so credit where credit is due. But he has not eradicated rough sleeping by any metric and this was his campaign promise in 2017.
So, why would anyone believe someone like me when I say exactly the same thing? I have even gone one step further and given myself only one year to achieve the impossible. I must be mad, a liar, or a grifter. Maybe, even all three!
I have nearly two decades of experience working with rough sleepers. I have won awards for this work, been featured on TV, spoken at conferences, and advised local governments. Last year, I advised the Number 10 Policy Unit based in Downing Street on this very matter. Let us concede that I must know one or two things of importance on this issue.
How will I fix this problem?
First, we must define the problem: rough sleeping is the act of sleeping outside when no other acceptable options are available.
We will know when we have solved such a problem for there will be no one sleeping on the streets. It is that simple. You will know it is fixed you see no one sleeping in cardboard boxes – no need to rely on me to tell you I have fixed it. Your eyes will inform you.
The individuals we see sleeping in doorways or in cardboard boxes are broken people, it has usually taken decades for them to end up in this position. They are not of sound mind and cannot make positive choices that improve their own lives.
Everyone can fail in life under the right circumstances. We all suffer misfortune and never know what is around the next corner – but 99.99% of us will never end up on the streets for we are functional and can solve problems. We are only dealing with a tiny minority of people who cannot manage their own lives for a variety of reasons. Part of the blame lies with the State for it interferes constantly in people’s lives by trying to solve problems at every opportunity – it usually makes it all worse. We call it Learnt Helplessness when the State has completely broken a person with compassion and kindness.
Rough sleeping is complex, multi-faceted and takes a backbone to solve for you will upset the pink and fluffy brigade. I am not saying I will cure everyone of their ailments and turn every life around. But I will create an environment where sleeping outside is not needed, tolerated or accepted.
My plan consists of 4 strands: Beds, Enforcement, Support and Volunteers.
Beds
Unfortunately, rough sleepers are not classed as illegal immigrants so access to free hotel rooms is not available to solve this problem. Local areas have to deal with this issue themselves with little help from national government.
The trick we need to pull off is to create accommodation that is acceptable to rough sleepers, but not so wonderful that it acts as a pull factor to rough sleepers across the rest of the country. This may sound callous, but Greater Manchester cannot house the destitute of the country - just as the UK cannot house the third world.
I will secure unused large commercial buildings around Greater Manchester and turn them into shelters. Imagine a large warehouse separated into zones, each filled with wooden garden sheds to act as a single bedroom. Each shed to contain a single bed, TV and storage. No cooking facilities for H&S reasons. One shed per person.
Each zone will be fenced off from others so we can create drug-free areas, low-need sections, and high-risk sectors overseen by emergency staff and security. Rough sleepers are not all the same for they are human like me and you. Each one will require a bespoke support package if we are to make a real difference. Placing a vulnerable non-drug user next to a chronic drug addict will only give you two chronic drug users after a few weeks.
We will base a police officer in every hostel to ensure the order and safety of guests. They cannot be allowed to turn into violent, unmanageable locations where anything goes. There will be rules and these will be enforced. A mobile prison unit could be stationed at the hostel that accommodates the most dysfunctional individuals.
Dogs will be allowed. Alcohol and drugs will be allowed in some zones if kept out of sight. Whatever the reason given for not accepting a bed will be overcome – the priority will be to get people off the streets. Drugs will still be illegal and will be dealt with accordingly if seen by a police officer.
These units will not be mass holding centres, maybe one or two dozen people at most depending upon need and risk assessment.
Enforcement
It will not be acceptable to choose to live on the streets in Greater Manchester. Personal choice is not a valid reason to slowly die on the street in front of an audience. We will treat rough sleeping as a mental health emergency for that is exactly what it is. In any emergency, the first response is to save lives – in this case, it is getting people off the street.
A softly-softly approach will begin initially. We will offer taxis to shelters. We will have transport for dogs and belongings. No issue will be presented to refuse the help on offer that we will not have a solution for.
For the tiny minority who do not want to accept any form of help and support, we will look at other options to motivate individuals to help themselves. We will enforce vagrancy laws. We will use powers under mental health legislation. We will remove belongings. We will confiscate drugs and alcohol. If appropriate, we will section individuals so they are placed under the protection of the state's mental health services.
Let me be perfectly clear – it will not be acceptable to sleep on the streets in Greater Manchester.
The second part of the enforcement plan will be to make begging in Greater Manchester none existent within several months. You will see a huge reduction within the first month. No more people sat with paper cups on wet pavements, no more begging at traffic lights, and no more individuals sat outside shop entrances.
Begging supports rough sleeping by keeping vulnerable people supplied with drugs, which damages them even more. Most beggars are not rough sleeping but this lifestyle is a gateway to sleeping on the streets. I want to stop tomorrow's rough sleeping - today.
Broken people take drugs to dampen down the pain they suffer. This breaks them a little more, so more drugs are needed tomorrow. It is a vicious downward spiral into hell.
Nearly every penny that goes into a paper cup goes directly to a drug dealer - I will stop this activity. Anyone begging will be moved on. If they sit on the next corner they will be moved again. If they refuse to move they will be arrested. After a few weeks, it will be common knowledge that begging in Greater Manchester is not worthwhile for you make no money and risk spending the day in a cell.
This was exactly how the Manchester city centre used to be when I was in charge of reducing crime and antisocial behaviour. It can be again.
Support
How do you offer and maintain support services to a transient individual who can sleep in a different spot every evening? How do you expect a mentally ill drug user to remember they have an appointment at an office a week on Thursday? We need to stop setting people up to fail and then blaming them for the failure. I want support services to run for the benefit of service users, not the convenience of staff.
Support services will be asked to work from the new shelters. Office space will be made available with computers, lockable cabinets and private rooms for interviews and assessments. Instead of relying on individuals seeking out the support they need, it will come to them. No more making appointments for the following week or month, everyone will be seen at the hostel when they ask for help. We will offer rough sleepers the type of customer service that you and I take for granted in our lives.
Other amenities in the hostels will include washing facilities, free clean clothes, healthy hot food, access to the internet and telephone, mediation services to reconnect with family, and access to mental health and drug support services.
We will have people who can sort out IDs and passports, open bank accounts, fill in benefit forms, apply for housing, liaise with the police and courts if needed, and offer employment training and access to jobs. The NHS will visit and help people before they hit a crisis point or become critically ill.
We will create a one-stop shop for all rough sleeping needs with a philosophy of never giving up on anyone regardless of how many times they mess up.
Volunteers
The State cannot do everything for everyone. We need the community to take some responsibility and be part of the solution. We have such people across the region who run homeless outreach projects that give out food and other essentials to people in need. This type of passion is great and needs to be coordinated so we can make it count.
I will be asking these groups to partner with the hostels so they can bring food and services directly to individuals in a safe and controlled manner. Instead of serving people sitting on the street like an animal, let's serve them at clean tables and make them feel human and valuable.
Other groups may want to conduct music projects, arts & crafts sessions, movie nights, football games etc. The shelters will not be open prisons and will require the help of the community to be places that feel like home.
It is only through making these shelters comfortable and welcoming that we will be able to attract the most broken individuals to step foot inside and seek the help on offer that will lead them to a fulfilling life.
Shelters will be aiming to move people onward to more secure accommodation that individuals can call home. This has to be done with care and when the person is ready. I have worked with many rough sleepers who are accommodated and taken off the streets, only to fail in that accommodation and end up right back where they started on a cold wet pavement. This short-sighted support is a complete waste of money and resources, plus, it damages the individual a little more for they have failed yet again.
We will attempt to do things differently, some things will work and some things will not. But we will learn along the way and share this learning so others can benefit and not repeat our mistakes. There is no shame in failing, only in repeating it.
I will look at how we can invoice other councils if we accommodate someone they let down and had responsibility for. How do we charge the Home Office for a migrant allowed to stay in the country that we have to accommodate? I will ensure that we are not taken advantage of or walked over by government departments. I am quite prepared to take them to court and allow the public to hear our case. No more covering up the problem in the hope of promotion or advancing political careers. I want everything out in the open – the fear of embarrassment is a good motivator.
So, in a nutshell, that is my plan. No excuses, no delays, no more ignoring our broken fellow citizens in pain and leaving them to die alone on a cold wet pavement.
We are better than we have been. I know we are. I will ensure we are.
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