Newham Council Task & Finish report on 10 Year plan to solve the Temporary Accommodation Crisis

Yesterday, I presented a report to Full Council on the recommendations of a task and finish Group that I chaired, on the Temporary Accommodation crisis in Newham. This report was accepted unanimously. 

The key recommendation was that we have to have a credible long term plan not just to manage the crisis better (as important as that it) but to eventually solve it. 

This means not only do we have to raise our own game as a Council but also that the Government needs to be convinced that they have to provide the financial support and subsidy for us to provide sufficient secure, safe, green and affordable homes to house our 7000 homeless. 

Not an easy ask considering the dreadful state of public finances after 14 years of Tory rule but one we have to make. It used to be the case that British politicians from all political parties accepted that it was their duty to make sure that everyone had access to decent housing. We need to work to restore that belief. 

Check out the report here (Public Pack)Supplementary Agenda Two Agenda Supplement for Council, 14/07/2025 19:00

UPDATE: check out online ES articule on the report Plea for more cash to support thousands of families in temporary accommodation in east London borough | The Standard

Ajitha's Last Count

Picture is from last night just before midnight at Newham Dockside. We were just about to go out and take part in the bi-monthly Rough Sleeping Count. It was also the "Last Count" to be organised by Newham "Population Manager", Ajitha Sajeev, who had been awarded the BEM in 2020 for services to the homeless. 

Ajitha has worked for Newham Council for 33 years and will be sadly missed. 

Homeless outreach workers, volunteers and local Councillors are split up into teams of 2 or 3 to tour Newham in the early hours to count the number of Rough Sleepers. 

I went again with Newham Officer, Aidan and we came across and spoke to one rough sleeper bedding down on freezing concrete paving, with only a thin blanket. Aidan took his details and discussed help and support. We did come across a tent pitched on a green area but were unable to establish whether anyone was in it and did not want to disturb anyone who might have been. So we took location details and also passed them back to Ajitha when we returned to Newham Dockside. 

In the early morning a follow up visit of outreach workers go to the Rough sleepers found by the count teams to try and assist them 

The information gained during the count is also used by the Council and the Government to assess the effectiveness of the various homeless initiatives taking place in Newham to support Rough Sleepers and help them get off the streets. 

Help Save Homeless Londoners' Lives

 

"As temperatures drop to freezing, the @mayorofldn.bsky.social and London Councils have activated the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP), which means that London boroughs and City Hall will be opening up emergency accommodation for rough sleepers".

Hat tip @tomcopley.bsky.social

Newham Council Homeless Street Count Jan 24

Last week at midnight (00.01 24.1.24) I joined Newham Councillors, outreach workers and officers to take part in the bi-monthly Street Count of homeless residents sleeping outdoors. 

We met up at Newham Dockside building beforehand, had a briefing and were divided in teams of two - a driver and lead.  We all had patches within Newham where it was believed we may find people sleeping outdoors (rough sleeping). A team was already out early to deal with an emergency. 

I went with Cllr Jane Lofthouse and we toured parts of East Ham checking out known "hot spots". We came across two people sleeping in office doorways. The weather was not as cold as it has been the last few week but it had been raining beforehand and it was very windy (end of "Storm Jocelyn"). 

One was asleep but the other was awake and we able to have a chat and take some details so outreach workers will come down and see him in the early morning. Hopefully, they will be able to take him off the streets and help him find more suitable accommodation. 

After dropping off Jane at home and the documentation at Dockside, I was home for 2am. Will update on what the other teams found when I get the data. 

UPDATE:  Not on this Newham count but this report about biggest increase in rough sleeping late last year in London is alarming. 

Less than 4 days to go before 26 Mile Homeless Charity walk in London

 My wife Gill describes me looking like a condemned man in this photo!

Now wishing that I had trained more and sorted out my walking gear earlier but it is too late now to do much about these things.

I did a 10 mile walk from home to Chingford during the weekend which left me feeling a little sore the next day (it was very muddy) so what I will be like this Sunday after 26 miles? 

We start (team of 35 from Clarion Housing) 10am on Saturday 27 January at the Oval Cricket club for the 26 Mile route which goes around the River Thames from Putney to Rotherhithe finishing again at the Oval. There about 4000 walkers in total taking part during the weekend. 

I hope to walk around 3mph so it should take just over 8 hours (with another 30 minutes in breaks). 

Wish we luck and if you can sponsor me please do at this "JustGiving" site. St Mungo's is a National Homeless charity, which as a housing officer, I have seen first hand do some great work in supporting vulnerable clients. 

Countdown to London 26 Mile Winter Walk 2024 - 24/25 days training days to go

I am taking part in a sponsored 26 mile walking marathon at the end of this month for the homelessness charity St Mungos with colleagues from work. 

Most of the recent holiday was spent walking in the Peak district which was good cross training but I only averaged around 13500 steps per day. For the 26 mile walking marathon I will have to complete around 55,000 steps. It should take between 6-8 hours of walking at a reasonable fast pace. 

I am trying to go out walking 3 times a day (early morning, lunch and evening) for short walks and plan longer ones in the weekends. Listening to BBC sounds on my headphones or making telephone calls is a great way to get some walking practice. 

Yesterday evening I went to Westfields to check out suitable walking footwear but could not find anything I like, so I might take part in my normal sports shoes but I think I will need more cushioning for concrete/tarmac. 

I am raising money via this Just Giving Page. Please consider sponsoring me if you can. 

 

The Housing Crisis: A possible positive way forward & a definite negative

On Thursday evening I took part in an informal discussion of a possible way to provide much needed homes for homeless families. The suggestion is largely untested at scale, extremely complex, potentially financially risky but may (repeat may) offer a "least worst" way forward.

Later that evening I met residents from my ward (with my ward colleague Cllr John Whitworth. Our 3rd ward colleague, Cllr Mclean, is a member of a Planning Committee, so therefore could not attend) to discuss a local planning proposal. 

This proposal would, if accepted, result in in new homes being built but only at "Market rents".  In September 2022  average rents in Newham for a one bed flat was £1300 per month. 

There is also a number of other important objections to this particular development. 

While there will be some payments by the developers to fund possible social housing or infrasture, it would appear that very little if any, of the 5800 on the Newham Council homelessness register or the 34,000 on its waiting list will be able to afford such "market rents". 

I hope we can find a way to fund more homes for homeless families but I will certainly be working with residents to change, or if necessary, stop any proposal to build any single development that is 100% market rents.

Newham Street Count: 17.11.22

 

Picture is of local volunteers, Council officers and Councillors about to go out at midnight on Thursday to take our part in the UK annual nationwide street count of people sleeping rough. We also had observers to verify our results from the civil service and academia. 

While this national survey takes place once a year, in Newham, we also carry out mini surveys every 2 months. 

This time I was a driver/lead of a team of 3, with Tim who is a volunteer from the "NewDay" project and Burt, who is a senior lecturer in the London School of Economics. 

We went to a Newham postcode and local park that I have been to on previous counts many times. Despite the recent awful wet and rainy weather, we found 4 people sleeping on the streets in a doorway. 3 of whom were still awake and content to speak to us about their situation and what help they need. We took details which we passed on at the end of the count to enable outreach workers to go out and speak to them that morning (their shift started at 5.30am). 

I don't know what the other teams found but the local and national results will be published soon. 

Many, many thanks to Council manager Ajitha and her team for their hard work and commitment.  

Bad Regulation = Bad Landlords

Hat tip "Nearly Legal" and check out this sobering report on the regulation of private sector renting by the National Audit Office.

There are 4.4 million privately rented "households" in England. Those who have bad experiences of such renting may "find it contributes to serious illness, financial issues or homelessness...The proportion of households in England living in privately rented accommodation has approximately doubled in the past 20 years, and the sector faces several challenges:

On average, private tenants spend more of their income on housing (32%), compared with those living in their own properties (18%) or social housing (27%).

The market is increasingly populated by low-income groups, benefit recipients and families, whose access to other housing options may be limited.

In around 29,000 instances in 2019-20, households were, or were at risk of being, made homeless following an eviction that was not their fault.

Many local authorities face funding pressures, which can constrain their ability to check properties proactively for non-compliance and therefore places greater reliance on tenants being aware of their rights and reporting problems".

As the NAO chart shows (p16) what this means is renters in the private sector can suffer harassment, live in dangerous properties, face financial exploitation, receive poor service, unaffordable rents and be completely insecure. Ironically to use a phrase loved by the Tories about Social Housing it is increasingly the "tenure of the last resort".

While there are many good landlords who offer and maintain quality homes for rent they are often under cut by bad landlords.

What we need is not only greater regulation but for this to result in a shift in the power relationship between landlords and tenants. To do that we also need effective and independent renter unions.

"Why my council is refusing to help the Home Office deport rough sleepers" Emine Ibrahim

Hat tip to an excellent article in the Guardian by my UNISON comrade and Housing Lead for Haringey Council, Cllr Emine Ibrahim. I am sure that Newham Council will support this but I was not allowed to bring this issue up at last weeks Cabinet meeting which was a real shame.

"The plan to deport homeless non-UK nationals punishes the most vulnerable in society. It has no place in our borough

I wasn’t surprised to learn of the Home Office’s plan to make rough sleeping grounds for the deportation of some non-UK nationals. We all know about the department’s recent history – the impacts of the Windrush scandal are still raw, and a recent report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that the Home Office had broken the law. But that doesn’t mean we are going to accept it in our borough.

Last week, the London borough of Haringey, where I am a councillor, decided to take a stand. We feel the new Home Office rules are discriminatory and so we said that we won’t be collaborating with it on these rule changes.

There may be those who think that this is just the attitude of “hard left” councillors or the “do-gooders” (to quote the prime minister) of “north London” (to quote the home secretary). But look past the caricatures of this part of the capital city and you’ll see something else. The political experiences that brought many of us here are stories of seeking refuge. This might include family stories of fleeing the Holocaust; personal histories of exile from former Yugoslavia; Kurds, Somalis and others leaving perilous situations in the Middle East and Horn of Africa; and those who fled homophobia and domestic violence. Stories like these run through our family, friends and neighbours.

My family arrived in north London in the 1960s and 70s, escaping the descent of their homeland, Cyprus, into conflict in the years following British colonial rule. I left my birthplace in south-east London as a child with my sister and mum in the middle of the night in 1986, when Mum sought refuge with relatives in Haringey after a sudden family breakdown. We faced the homelessness that is now familiar to many families on waiting lists across London. Haringey was there for us. The borough that the late Bernie Grant – then head of the council – led was our haven. I know similar experiences motivate many of my fellow councillors.

This is why we will do all in our power to keep it that way for people at their most vulnerable. When our outreach workers gently wake someone sleeping rough in the middle of the freezing night and ask if they’re OK and if they want somewhere warm to sleep, the badge they show them is there to seek trust, give assurance and change their lives. It isn’t to strike fear into them that they will be deported.


New rules on removing foreign rough sleepers from UK face legal challenge

Read more

Many people sleeping rough have faced exploitation and unbelievably difficult personal challenges. Councils across London work doggedly to help them find safety and stability.

As a result of the pandemic, many more people are having difficulty in paying their rent and bills, and keeping up mortgage payments. The authorities should be relieving, not adding, to their distress. The reality is that many people are just a lost job or family crisis away from housing insecurity or homelessness.

Since March, Haringey has been working with partners to provide support and emergency accommodation to more than 800 people who faced sleeping rough. Overcrowded housing and sofa-surfing meant many came to us for the first time. We saw the reality of the hidden homelessness that we knew existed. We now have the lowest number of people on our streets that we have seen in years, but we still must work tirelessly. Many of those that we are trying to support into more secure accommodation are non-UK nationals who do not have recourse to public funds.

Last week, I joined our outreach team on our annual rough sleeping count, when workers and volunteers walk the borough to locate and offer help to people who are sleeping on the streets. Two wonderfully committed women and I went out with torches on what felt like a foggy, Dickensian night. We found someone rough sleeping on Tottenham Green, gently gained his trust and got him a taxi to accommodation nearby. More than half of the people we met that night had not been born in the UK.

The passion our rough sleeping team have is boundless; they genuinely care and are incredibly skilled. What they are not is an extension of the Home Office. Local government has over decades seen the gradual extension of the hand of immigration enforcement undermine trust in the services we deliver.

The hostile environment – which has since been rebranded as the compliant environment – is a scandal. It treats those who weren’t born here, or look like they might not have been born here, with suspicion, forcing them through bureaucratic punishment. And it’s all for politics. As charities and lawyers have said, in a letter to the home secretary, going after foreign-born rough sleepers will punish victims of modern slavery and may send women back to dangerous situations in countries that they have fled.

We are awaiting details on what the precise duties imposed by the government on local authorities will be regarding rough sleepers. The Home Office says it will be “used sparingly”, but how can we trust the department given its track record? When sharing information with other organisations, our priority will always remain safeguarding and tackling inequality. The Home Office’s policy is not about helping but punishing the most vulnerable in our society. It has no place in Haringey.

• Emine Ibrahim is a Labour councillor for Haringey and cabinet member for housing and estate renewal

Newham Annual Rough Sleeping Winter Street Count 2020

 

On Thursday evening at 11pm I went to Newham Council Dockside Building, to be briefed and then take part, in the annual survey of the number of people sleeping on our streets. This is a national survey that all councils are expected to carry out that particular night (not sure if only England?). 

The weather had turned very cold and for the first time this season, I had to clear my car windscreen of frost/ice before driving to the briefing. 

Due to Covid there were only 7 small teams, covering known rough sleeping "hotspots" in Newham. The teams comprised of 16 in total: Council officers, 3rd sector organisations, local volunteers, 4 
Newham Councillors and a representative from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govt

There was also a team that stayed behind in order to make hourly checks on everyone to make sure they were safe and to take in the data at the end. Including a representative of the charity Homeless Link, who would independently verify the results. 

We were briefed by Ajitha Sajeev, a fantastic long serving Newham officer, who has been recently been awarded a BEM for her work https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2020/10/newham-hero-honoured-by-queen-on-world.html

I went as a team driver with Kris, a manager from the homeless charity Thameslink, who I have been  on many previous Newham Counts together. 

We had a number of "hot spots" to visit and I was pleased that we found only one person sleeping rough that night in a large Newham retail park. We were able to have a constructive  conversation with him and found that he did want help with getting his national insurance number, in order to find work (and hopefully safer accommodation). He did not want accommodation that night but outreach workers will visit him very early the next morning to see what they can do to help. 

While I cannot yet say what was the total number of people sleeping rough in Newham on Thursday due to the need for verification, in September 2018 it was 105 but in September 2020 if was only 12. This is thanks to the superb outreach work carried out by our officers, stakeholders and volunteers but also due to the government funding promise following the announcement in March of the "everyone in" policy for all rough sleepers to be offered accommodation due to covid. 

This shows what can be achieved if you have the funding and political will to solve a housing crisis. Hopefully this will be a lesson learnt. 

Since it was so quiet I was home just after 2am. 

Newham Rough Sleeper (Mini) Street Count June 2020

Pictures from last night's Newham Rough Sleeping (mini) Street count with Councillors, Council officers and 3rd sector partners going out during the night to count how many rough sleepers there are. Usually this is done every two months.

Due to COVID19 only 4 teams of 2 people were sent out however, we visited 43 sites that have recent reports or historically associated with rough sleeping in Newham (and also there were central staff doing safety checks and gathering stats).

We met up in a local hotel that the Council has block booked to house and support rough sleepers. We took bottled water and sun cream to hand out (it has been very hot lately)

My team toured Manor Park and East Ham and "only" met 1 person sleeping on the streets! (S/he is well known to outreach workers and they are trying to support).

I am not sure if we can publish the actual figures yet from last nights count but it is no secret that it will be definitely and dramatically down from Pre covid times and the decision by the government to get "everyone in" into accommodation and off the streets

This shows what can he done if you have the will and the resources but we need our Government to commit further money & humane changes to the "No Recourse to Public Funds" (NRPF) rules to get rid of the blight in our society of vulnerable people sleeping on our streets. 

Impact of Covid-19 on homeless

Lola works in housing and is a member of my UNISON branch. I have a clash tomorrow but I have sent Lola a 3 minute video with our experience in Newham London and some ideas about the future. I will be watching later to find out what is happening in Birmingham and Medway.

Stop Boris stealing homes from low income families!

Despite the corona virus emergency we must also keep an eye out on what else the government is proposing.

UNISON has spotted that the Tories are proposing to stop local authorities using developers contributions (so called section 106 money) to fund homes for low income families.

Instead it will be used to subsidise first time buyers of private homes.

This will decimate local authorities ability to have homes built for low income families.

If the Government wants to support first time buyers then that is great, but do not do this at the expense of desperate vulnerable homeless or overcrowded families.

So check out UNISON resource links below on these "First Homes" proposals and respond :-

• download and share the UNISON briefing;
• find out more about the government consultation, including how to respond and download the consultation document;
• use UNISON’s housing affordability tool to find out how the housing crisis will affect you and your family. Make sure you share your result on social media and email your MP on the subject;
• tweet to your MP and ask them to support the policies in our housing manifesto and the manifesto summary – using the hashtag #UNISONHousingManifesto;
• find out more about UNISON’s housing campaign.

Hat tip great picture to Steve Bell

Busy Labour Movement Day

This morning (Wednesday) started off with a 9am tour and presentation at Anchor House in Canning Town with Councillor colleagues. Anchor House is a former Seaman's mission which is now a charity that specialises in supporting single homeless adults.

It has a very innovative proposal to convert unused space into a further 18 bedrooms. I was also impressed with the improvements to communal livings spaces and installation of a new kitchen and laundry.

Later I went to the UNISON HQ in Euston for a long meeting of its NEC Policy Development and Campaign Committee (PDCC). Which included some excellent reports from our devolved nations Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Congratulations to Northern Ireland  for its recent successful NHS strike action over pay.

I was devastated to see that my beloved North Wales is now almost totally controlled by the Tories. Unbelievable. Incredible. Only Alan & Deeside (I was born and bred in Buckley) survived by a few hundred votes (we would have been wiped out if the Brexit Party had stood down). Need to learn lessons quickly before Welsh Assembly elections in May. Onward and forwards.

We spent ages  debating and voting on draft motions to our National Conference. Finished just after 4pm.

Next as a NEC member for Community (Voluntary sector and Housing Associations) I had a briefing on the Community Service Group in Greater London region.

At 6.30 pm I was in the Old Town Hall,  Stratford to take part in the public consultation on the Newham Council Budget proposals which went really well.  I sat on a round table with Councillors,  officers and residents discussing our proposal to tackle Rough Sleeping by increasing spending by 400% to £1.8 million per year. Residents were challenging but on the whole broadly supportive of all our budget proposals especially those on improving our environment. They recognise that due to continual government cuts, difficult choices will have to be made.

Final event of the day was the launch of a new community group called "Voice of Newham". The Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, myself and local Councillors were invited to speak about our future plans for Newham and how by working with all our communities we will bring about change. Finished about 11pm.

A long day but a good day.

A Christmas Tale: "Newham has the highest rate of homelessness in the country, report reveals, as council ramps up support"

A modern day Christmas tale: Hat tip Newham Recorder 

"Newham has the highest rate of homelessness in the country, a report by housing charity Shelter has revealed.

The council says a shortage of social rented property, high private rents and benefit changes are pushing more people into homelessness, which Shelter's annual report estimated affects one in 24 (a total of 14,535) people in the borough.

Deputy Mayor John Gray said the council is putting "significant resources" into dealing with the crisis, including expanding its street outreach team and day service provision, and funding a high needs rough sleeper unit.

New figures from Shelter reveal 280,000 people - one in every 200 - are recorded as homeless in England and all but three of the 28 worst affected local authorities are in London, where private rents are notoriously expensive.

The next worst rate after Newham was in both Haringey and Kensington and Chelsea, where one in 29 are homeless.

Newham recently adopted a dedicated Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy for the first time in a decade, which was developed with the support of Shelter and covers the two years to December 2021.

Cllr Gray, the council's lead member for housing, said: "Since this administration came into office in May 2018, addressing the challenges created by the government's housing crisis has been a key priority and considerable work has been done in this area.

"We are directing significant resources to deal with the crisis and are set to spend an additional £1.4m per year to improve services supporting rough sleepers and creating preventative measures to reduce the risk of others becoming homeless.

"To increase housing supply, we are increasing the number of genuinely affordable social rented homes with plans to build at least 1,000 in place and building work already under way.

"We are also looking at providing our own supply of quality temporary accommodation so we are not reliant on private landlords."

The council's street outreach team, which has been expanded from two to 10, works with the rough sleeping community to gather evidence of needs, find solutions, and engage with them to develop pathways away from the streets.

A recent effort to engage with rough sleepers in the Stratford Centre area, where a large number of tents appeared over the summer, resulted in 13 people placed in emergency accommodation, 13 assessed for health and other needs, and 19 tents removed.

Overall, 52 rough sleepers were accommodated in November.

Twenty beds are available at a high needs rough sleeper unit at Caritas Anchor House in Canning Town.

A temporary 25-bed assessment hub has been set up to allow rough sleepers, where health treatment, money and immigration advice, addiction and mental health support is available under one roof.

Cllr Gray said: "With the raft of measures already implemented and working with partners and the community, we are determined to drastically improve the current situation and reduce the threat of homelessness facing some of our most vulnerable residents."

Shelter's review of government data also revealed that almost 220,000 people in England were threatened with homelessness in the last year.

The true level of homeless is believed to be higher than the recorded figures show, as a lot of it is undocumented, including sofa-surfing and some rough sleeping.

Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: "Homelessness blights lives and leaves a lasting imprint of trauma, and yet 280,000 people in England are without a home this Christmas - and many are only days away from joining them.

"As well as those facing serious ill-health or even death sleeping rough on our streets this winter, there are thousands of families trapped in grotty emergency B&Bs, with no space for children to sit and eat, let alone play.

"This is the grim truth our new government must confront and do something radical to change."

To donate to Shelter's Christmas appeal, visit www.shelter.org.uk or text SHELTER to 70030 to donate £3. Texts cost your standard network rate plus £3.

Visit to ThamesReach Martha Jones House

This morning I went on a visit to Martha Jones House, which is a 50 bed high needs hostel in Vauxhall, run by Thamesreach, a London based charity helping homeless and vulnerable people. I had been invited with my fellow Deputy Mayor (Tower Hamlets not Newham), Cllr Rachel Blake (see photo top middle).

Martha Jones House, is an impressive, purpose built hostel, just over a year old. I once went to a UNISON branch meeting in the nearby old hostel a few years ago and Martha Jones is much better.

We had a tour of the building and spoke to residents and staff about the facility and what they offer. Many of the residents are former rough sleepers who are referred by assessments centres. All must have a Lambeth "local connection". The hostel is supported financially by Lambeth Council. What I found particularly impressive is that they have no absolute "exclusion" policy and will potentially accept residents with the most challenging needs or behaviour. Residents are normally expected to stay for a maximum of 9 months.

After the tour we had a really useful and constructive "brain storming" session with staff about homelessness, rough sleeping, temporary and permanent accommodation. What do charities such as Thamesreach want local authorities to do and what can charities do to assist local authorities?

My takeaway from this is as well as specialist hostel provision you need effective floating support in suitable permanent accommodation is get people off the streets.

Adequate funding is also essential. You cannot deal with rough sleeping on the cheap.

Many thanks to Thamesreach Chief Executive, Bill Tidnam, Catherine Parsons, Director of Operations (the fantastic manager of the hostel, whose name I have rudely forgotten) and to residents C and N for their insights. 

Newham Council sets out new strategy to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping

Hat tip Newham Council website. “Newham Council Cabinet last night (Tuesday 3 December) voted to adopt a new strategy to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in the borough.​​

​It is the first time in a decade that Newham has had a dedicated Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy, and is the product of new priorities set by the current administration.

A considerable amount of work has been done in the areas of homelessness prevention, and in particular rough sleeping. The strategy has compassion and care at its core and has been drawn up with the support of the homeless charity Shelter. It will cover the period December 2019 to December 2021.

Newham faces enormous challenges on two fronts, first on the issue of people experiencing homelessness, defined as anyone who does not have access to suitable accommodation.

Shortage of social rented property, high private rents and benefits changes have pushed more Newham residents into homelessness, which has resulted in over 27,000 households on the council waiting list and more than 5,000 in temporary accommodation at a cost of £5.5m a year to the council.

The council is committed to increasing the number of genuinely affordable social rented homes in the borough, and plans to build at least 1,000 such properties by 2022 are in place with some building work already under way.    

The more visible challenge facing Newham is the rise in street homelessness. Since 2015/16 levels of rough sleeping in Newham have increased by 135 per cent. 

There is a particular concentration of rough sleepers in and around the Stratford Centre due to the availability of shelter and food, 24 hours a day. Stratford is now well known across the wider rough sleeper community, drawing people in from outside the borough and creating one of the largest rough sleeping hotspots in London.

To tackle the two issues Newham’s strategy has been split into two, with an interim programme, and a longer term plan.

The interim programme is already under way, tackling the immediate and urgent issues like implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, and measures to deal with rough sleeping.

Rough sleeping presents acute health and safety threats to those bedded down on the streets, with people vulnerable to crime, violence, exploitation, drug and drink addiction and mental illness. In a bid to reduce the number of people facing these dangers, Newham Council has:

• Established a rough sleeping taskforce bringing together representatives from all relevant council departments with partners like local charities, businesses, health partners, national charity groups, government, the Greater London Authority and people with experience of rough sleeping,  to find solutions.
• Set up Co-Production forum called Newham Homelessness Action Group to find grassroots solutions to the wider homelessness problem

Colin Ansell, Corporate Director of Adults and Health for Newham Council said: “The Council is working from a historically very low base of provision for rough sleepers and homelessness prevention. 

“This administration has prioritised this provision, and alongside policies designed to increase the availability of genuinely affordable property, it is committed to reduce the need for anyone to sleep on the streets, or face the threat of homelessness.

“We have a long way to go, but with our partners and community support we are determined to improve the current situation, both in the short and long term.” 

Newham Council Rough Sleeping National Count - 29 November 2019

Picture of local volunteers, Charities, Council & Ministry staff, Councillors and outreach workers in Newham Dockside before the start of the annual national count of Rough Sleepers in Newham 12-3AM.

There were around 40 people split into 10 teams. I was a driver for my team. The leader was Belinda who works for a Newham Charity and the other team member was Tony who has "lived experience" of sleeping rough in Newham. Tony and I both jointly chair the Newham Homeless Action Group.

The National count takes place at the same time all over the UK but Newham has been carrying out local counts every 2 months in order to satisfy external funding of homelessness projects.

After being fully briefed on the purpose and methodology of the count (as well as showing at all times respect for rough sleepers and our health and safety) we set off. Our team was given 9 sites in East Ham which in the past had been used by rough sleepers.

We managed to visit all 9 sites by about 2.30am and came across and spoke to two separate rough sleepers. They were offered emergency accommodation (both politely refused) and arrangements made for outreach workers to offer further support in the morning.

It is on the one hand, quite incredible, to be speaking to people sleeping on outdoor concrete slabs on a cold wet November night who then decline the offer of a warm, dry bed for the night. However, the push back was that that emergency accommodation for rough sleepers was often in places that were dangerous with violent drug abusers. Hopefully, our outreach workers will be able to persuade rough sleepers that our emergency assessment centres are safe. 

Labour Party Manifesto 2019: Housing

"Everyone has the right to a decent, secure home. In 1945, Labour promised to ‘proceed with a housing programme with the maximum practical speed until every family in this island has a good standard of accommodation’. 

In 2019, we renew that pledge.But too many people are being denied their right to a good home by our housing system that treats homes as financial assets rather than places to live. 

There is no starker symbol of the failing housing system than the horror of the Grenfell Tower fire. A Labour government will bring system-wide change, so that a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again. 

We will introduce a £1 billion Fire Safety Fund to fit sprinklers and other fire safety measures in all high rise council and housing association tower blocks, enforce the replacement of dangerous Grenfell style cladding on all high-rise homes and buildings, while introducing mandatory building standards and guidance, inspected and enforced by fully trained Fire and Rescue Service fire safety officers. 

Grenfell Tower was the confirmation of a more far reaching crisis. Everyone knows of someone affected by the housing crisis: younger people unable to buy a first home, renters trapped in damp flats, families stuck on council waiting lists, leasehold home-owners hit by unfair fees, people who are homeless living and dying on our streets. The gap between the housing haves and have-nots is at the heart of the injustice in our country today. 

Since 2010, the Conservatives have slashed funding for new homes, refused to regulate for higher standards and given a free hand to commercial property developers. There are fewer new homes for social rent, a million more households stuck renting from a private landlord, 900,000 fewer young people owning a home and more than twice as many people sleeping on our streets. Only Labour has a plan to fix the housing crisis. 

We will act on every front to bring the cost of housing down and standards up, so that everyone has a decent, affordable place to call home. Labour will create a new Department for Housing, make Homes England a more accountable national housing agency and put councils in the driving seat. We will set out a strategy for a flourishing construction sector with a skilled workforce and full rights at work. 

Labour will set up a new English Sovereign Land Trust, with powers to buy land more cheaply for low-cost housing. We will use public land to build this housing, not sell it off to the highest bidder. 

Developers will face new ‘use it or lose it’ taxes on stalled housing developments. We will keep the Land Registry in public hands, and make ownership of land more transparent. We will make brownfield sites the priority for development and protect the green belt.

Labour will tackle the climate crisis and cut energy bills by introducing a tough, new zero-carbon homes standard for all new homes, and upgrading millions of existing homes to make them more energy efficient. 

We will review the planning guidance for developments in flood risk areas. Council and Social Homes The only way to deliver on everyone’s right to a good home is to build publicly funded social housing. 

Labour will deliver a new social house building programme of more than a million homes over a decade, with council housing at its heart. By the end of the Parliament we will be building at an annual rate of at least 150,000 council and social homes, with 100,000 of these built by councils for social rent in the biggest council house building programme in more than a generation. 

We will establish a new duty on councils to plan and build these homes in their area, and fund them to do so, with backing from national government. 

We will scrap the Conservatives’ bogus definition of ‘affordable’, set as high as 80% of market rents, and replace it with a definition linked to local incomes. These council and housing association homes will be more affordable than market housing and built to higher standards. 

We will end the conversion of office blocks to homes that sidestep planning permission through ‘permitted development’.

We will stop the haemorrhage of low cost homes by ending the right to buy, along with the forced conversion of social rented homes to so-called ‘affordable rent’. 

We will review the case for reducing the amount of housing debt councils currently hold. And we will give councils the powers and funding to buy back homes from private landlords. 

We will give tenants a stronger say in the management of their homes and stop social cleansing by making sure regeneration only goes ahead when it has the consent of residents, and that all residents are offered a new property on the same site and terms. 

We will fund a new Decent Homes programme to bring all council and housing association homes up to a good standard. Home Ownership Under the Tories, home ownership is getting further out of reach for more and more people. 

Numbers of new affordable homes to buy have fallen, and fewer younger people can afford their own home. 

We will build more low-cost homes reserved for first-time buyers in every area, including Labour’s new discount homes with prices linked to local incomes. 

We will reform Help to Buy to focus it on first-time buyers on ordinary incomes. 

We will introduce a levy on overseas companies buying housing, while giving local people ‘first dibs’ on new homes built in their area. 

We will bring empty homes back into use by giving councils new powers to tax properties empty for over a year. Labour will end the scandal of leasehold for the millions who have bought their home but don’t feel like they own it. 

We will end the sale of new leasehold properties, abolish unfair fees and conditions, and give leaseholders the right to buy their freehold at a price they can afford. We will introduce equivalent rights for freeholders on privately owned estates. 

Private Renters More than 11 million people rent from a private landlord and many of them are at the sharp end of the housing crisis. We will take urgent action to protect private renters through rent controls, open-ended tenancies, and new, binding minimum standards. Labour will stop runaway rents by capping them with inflation, and give cities powers to cap rents further. 

We will give renters the security they need to make their rented housing a home, with new open-ended tenancies to stop unfair, ‘no fault’ evictions. 

We will make sure every property is up to scratch with new minimum standards, enforced through nationwide licensing and tougher sanctions for landlords who flout the rules. 

We will fund new renters’ unions in every part of the country – to allow renters to organise and defend their rights.

We will get rid of the discriminatory rules that require landlords to check people’s immigration status or that allow them to exclude people on housing benefit. 

We will give councils new powers to regulate short-term lets through companies such as Airbnb. 

Homelessness No one should sleep without a roof over their head in one of the richest countries in the world. But under the Tories, the number of people sleeping rough has more than doubled. Over 125,000 children are now living in temporary accommodation, without a home to call their own – or the space they need to thrive. 

Labour will tackle the root causes of rising homelessness with more affordable homes and stronger rights for renters. Labour will end rough sleeping within five years, with a national plan driven by a prime minister-led task force. We will expand and upgrade hostels, turning them into places where people can turn their lives around. We will make available 8,000 additional homes for people with a history of rough sleeping. 

We will tackle the wider causes of homelessness, raising the Local Housing Allowance in line with the 30th percentile of local rents, and earmarking an additional £1 billion a year for councils’ homelessness services.

We will bring in a new national levy on second homes used as holiday homes to help deal with the homelessness crisis, so that those who have done well from the housing market pay a bit more to help those with no home. 

We will save lives this winter by ensuring extra shelters and support are in place in all areas. And we’ll repeal the Vagrancy Act and amend antisocial behaviour legislation to stop the law being used against people because they are homeless.

(Long post but what a brilliant housing manifesto. Restoring the political duty to decent homes for all is key. If this is implemented we will solve the housing crisis in Newham and elsewhere. I have put bold emphasis and underlined what I think are the most key commitments)