Homelessness Strategy to go before Tynwald in December 2023

[thommo2010]

1 hour ago, 2112 said:

As far as IOMG homelessness doesn’t exist, and sofa surfing or other associated social issues doesn’t exist. It’s there but our politicos don’t like it spoiling any of the islands success stories. A homeless shelter for example could have been established, using one of IOMG unused buildings, eg ex Fairfield School. It could be repurposed at minimal cost, without spending £ms and used for a 10 year lifespan, until its future is decided. No doubt someone will demand that facilities have state of the art, but someone who has difficulty in finding accommodation due to drink/substance/financial abuse etc, or are well known due to their extensive criminal history, and no landlord will house them - they may be eternally appreciative of a roof over their head, a warm bed, and help and support to rebuild their lives. 

The places in the uk are literally empty buildings and the homeless guys sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. No airs or graces just like you say a roof over their head somewhere warm

[2112]

2 minutes ago, thommo2010 said:

The places in the uk are literally empty buildings and the homeless guys sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. No airs or graces just like you say a roof over their head somewhere warm

The Fairfield School building could be adapted with showering and bathing facilities etc, and other facilities for support services etc, like training rooms. It has heating and electric, and probably complies with fire regulations. It also has parking facilities. 

[Max Power]

I think the very first action should be to assess the size of the issue, nowhere has anyone been able to quantify how many, or few, people would benefit, or use any facilities which may be provided. They could be putting the cart before the horse?

[Holte End]

36 minutes ago, Max Power said:

I think the very first action should be to assess the size of the issue, nowhere has anyone been able to quantify how many, or few, people would benefit, or use any facilities which may be provided. They could be putting the cart before the horse?

Don't kill a good issue with facts, if you can't prove your numbers make up words like sofa surfing or couch surfing, The truth is nobody on the island should be homeless, why doesn't someone ask the local councils the number of empty properties.

[Moghrey Mie]

1 hour ago, Max Power said:

I think the very first action should be to assess the size of the issue, nowhere has anyone been able to quantify how many, or few, people would benefit, or use any facilities which may be provided. They could be putting the cart before the horse?

If you read the report you will see that all this is part of the strategy. It's called a needs assessment.

https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/opqp/sittings/20212026/2023-laid papers-0119.pdf

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Moghrey Mie

[Max Power]

1 hour ago, 2112 said:

The Fairfield School building could be adapted with showering and bathing facilities etc, and other facilities for support services etc, like training rooms. It has heating and electric, and probably complies with fire regulations. It also has parking facilities. 

I thought that the old Nurses Home would have been an ideal hostel for various uses. Homeless, emergency accommodation for people with domestic problems, discharged prisoners, people in rehab etc. I did mention it to two MHKs but it didn't go anywhere. 

[Max Power]

1 minute ago, Moghrey Mie said:

If you read the report you will see that all this is part of the strategy.

It actually states that the needs analysis would be done on an individual basis, not measuring the size of the problem? Unless I was reading it incorrectly?

[Roger Mexico]

Watterson recently remarked about how if you wanted to put something off for a year you produce a Plan and if you want to put it off till after the next election you produce a Strategy.  And this report is a classic example of this process.  The superficial signs are there: the layout designed the produce the maximum number of pages for the minimum number of words; the pretty photos of the Island that are completely irrelevant (unless they plan to turn Peel Castle into a homeless shelter).  But there are more fundamental problems.

There is a complete lack of numbers about what is being discussed.  The nearest they come to anything quantitative is this graphic (p 3/ 6 of pdf) which claims to: illustrate the approximate scale of demand on the Island for those of no fixed abode ranging from housing with no support (the lowest form of support need), to housing with on site support (the highest and most complex form of support need).

But there's nothing to say what the actual values for this pie chart are or how they were derived or what these categories mean in practical terms or other characteristics of those with NFA (age, gender, the reasons support is or isn't needed, how long and how often people have been in this position and so on).  All this data must exist and be available from social services, social security, LA and DoI Housing Departments, organisation such as Housing Matters and the Salvation Army.  And this is in the section that is supposed to be describing the current situation which the Housing and Communities Board has had two years to assess.

But of course that's the point.  The aim is to be as vague and unspecific as possible, to make it look as if something is being done when there is no intention of doing anything.

[Moghrey Mie]

They do admit that lack of data is a problem and they intend to do something about that.

[code99]

5 hours ago, Max Power said:

I think the very first action should be to assess the size of the issue, nowhere has anyone been able to quantify how many, or few, people would benefit, or use any facilities which may be provided. They could be putting the cart before the horse?

Regarding your question about the size of the homelessness problem on the Island, apparently “Data on the issue of poverty and homelessness is especially difficult to get as the Isle of Man does not currently have an official definition of poverty, although this was recommended by the select committee”. This is according to the article published by Gef in 2021 when they interviewed homeless charities Graih and Housing Matters.

Personally, I assume the IOM’s homelessness is largely hidden and currently less of a problem that it is in the UK. This ‘better than them’ situation is chiefly due to: a) unemployment here is very low, b) the new residents who can’t support themselves will leave the Island rather than stay here if they have no right to Government assistance. However, with the rise of cost of living many more IOM’s most vulnerable residents (and working people) will find themselves in various financial and social difficulties that effectively makes them homeless. Currently there is an Island-wide shortage of affordable accommodation as typified by the latest housing development in Port Erin, where the developers are struggling to deliver on the requirement that “the site should contain 9.5 affordable housing units”. It is sometimes hard to believe that prior to the Covid pandemic, house prices on the Island were stagnating and, in some cases, it took some homeowners nearly a decade to ‘shift’ their properties (often) at loss. It appears that since 2020 many Island’s properties have been sold as ‘safe-havens’ to off-Island buyers, some of whom are now choosing to keep their IOM properties unoccupied for most of the time. Hopefully, many of these properties will be released on the market when the Government slaps significant penalty rates on unoccupied/ partly occupied properties as promised.

To-date successive IOM Governments had expediently relied on the goodwill of the charities to temporarily support desperate homeless people, but that support is ebbing away. In September 2022 Graih announced that they were closing its night shelter and the Baptist Church was seemingly taking it over. It is becoming clearer that the IOMG must have a strategy to deal with the Island’s (hidden) homelessness. However, having a ‘strategy’ is not enough (I am unsure why Manx Care, as opposed to DHSC, have been assigned responsibilities such as action points 1 and 2 of the Implementation Plan). Until the good intentions have been implemented as practical help, people will stay in ‘need’. IOM’s homelessness needs to be addressed effectively and efficiently. A race to the bottom against the UK would be a terrible option with many negative ramifications not only for the individuals involved, but for the welfare of the whole Island.

Edited December 3, 2023 by code99

[english zloty]

3 hours ago, Moghrey Mie said:

They do admit that lack of data is a problem and they intend to do something about that.

they were supposed to set up a homelessness database in 2002, so no real excuses there. and of course Housing Matters has also been around for eons, so no excuses about not having a multi-agency service. i think they just forgot to fund it.

[Roger Mexico]

3 hours ago, code99 said:

To-date successive IOM Governments had expediently relied on the goodwill of the charities to temporarily support desperate homeless people, but that support is ebbing away. In September 2022 Graih announced that they were closing its night shelter and the Baptist Church was seemingly taking it over. 

Still no night shelter though.  According to Broadway Baptists' website:

Starting out of Broadway, Graih developed into independent charity. In 2022, the charity started the process of shutting down its operations, while the work once again became a direct part of the church.

The core of the work is a daily drop-in for homeless people and others in need, with access to a range of services. Alongside the drop-in, our work includes home visits and other aspects of community pastoral support. Sadly, emergency overnight accommodation is not currently offered, although the Isle of Man Government has undertaken to provide this in the near future.

After the Graih-run closed down in September 2022, it was promised that there would be government one by January, but come August there was still nothing available, though it was claimed "Manx Care operates a process for accessing emergency temporary accommodation, such as short stays in hotels or bedsits".  Whether this consists of anything else except sending them to Housing Maters I don't know.

Whether a night shelter, rather than something more flexible is the right solution is another matter.  The Island may be too small for a night shelter to be viable (I think that many nights the one at Broadway was empty) and there are problems with catering for young or female homeless even so.  It all depends how well-funded the alternatives are and how easily they can be accessed in an emergency.

[2112]

As reported on the NPM - £62,000 was spent on providing emergency accommodation for the homeless in a year. Even more revealing is £6000 on damages caused to emergency housing provision. I presume some ‘homeless’ people who helped, are repaying the generosity of the taxpayer by smashing things up? 
 

From the NPM - 

Six-month progress report published on Homelessness Strategy

More than £62,000 was spent providing emergency accommodation for homeless people in a year.

The spend covered the 12 months between February 2023 and February 2024.

Between February last year and June this year 63 individuals and two families were helped with overnight housing.

The Housing and Communities Board has published a six-month progress report following the implementation of the Homelessness Strategy in December.

It claims it’s made ‘significant progress’ including ‘the completion of a number of actions, effective stakeholder engagement and an initial positive impact’.

These include producing a ‘working definition of homelessness’, conducting a ‘comprehensive mapping exercise’ of support already available and looking at signposting.

The board adds it is ‘on track’ to develop a wraparound support service for people who need emergency overnight housing.

This will include appointing two lead professionals for the Eastern Wellbeing Partnership, four community workers to work within the Wellbeing Partnerships and devising a ‘communication plan’.

However the board has highlighted a number of issues it’s faced including ‘logistical challenges’ with the availability of accommodation over peak periods including TT and Christmas.

It adds that a number of people who have been using the bed and breakfast accommodation provided by government have ‘very high support needs’.

This, it says, has led to challenges in securing ‘next stage’ accommodation for them.

Almost £6,000 had to be spent on damages caused to emergency housing provision. 

Chair David Ashford said: “There are many reasons why people become homeless.

“There is not a single solution for homelessness.

“People without a place to stay, or at risk of being homeless, require the health and social care that meets their specific needs whether they are an individual or a family.

“The significant progress of the Homelessness Strategy action plan is the result of the strategic partnership which has brought together thinking from key areas of government and the experience of third sector organisations such as Housing Matters, The Salvation Army and Praxis Care.”

The Housing and Communities Board says it will now plan ahead for busy periods by looking to prebook a certain number of beds in advance with local accommodation providers.

It will also look at supplying alternative accommodation for those not suitable for the B+B model.

[thommo2010]

People seem to think solving homelessness is simply putting a roof over someone's head. Fact is a lot of the people who are classed as homeless will at some point have had a house or flat but due to a variety of reasons, addictions, mental health issues, anti social behaviour they get kicked out and can't then find anywhere else. I could tell numerous stories of people who have been given all the help going but don't take any personal responsibility to help themselves and the cycle continues.

[2112]

21 minutes ago, thommo2010 said:

People seem to think solving homelessness is simply putting a roof over someone's head. Fact is a lot of the people who are classed as homeless will at some point have had a house or flat but due to a variety of reasons, addictions, mental health issues, anti social behaviour they get kicked out and can't then find anywhere else. I could tell numerous stories of people who have been given all the help going but don't take any personal responsibility to help themselves and the cycle continues.

Nor is throwing money at the problem. If people misbehave and ‘trash’ either a property, a HMO room or B&B provision, we live on a small island where landlords know each other, and should a person commit criminal damage, their appearance will be reported on the local media. This in turn will result in the individual being blacklisted by landlords etc. Maybe, some individuals due to being incapable of holding a tenancy, will be housed by the state, whilst other individuals and families who are well behaved, but due to circumstances beyond their control can’t access accommodation, whilst others (undeserving poor)are getting the support.