All posts tagged: homelessness

Teaching unions urge Labour to tackle child homelessness

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles School leaders have urged Labour to quickly alleviate child poverty after new figures revealed a record number of youngsters were living in temporary accommodation. The number of children in temporary housing with their families in England soared to 151,630 as of the end of March, new figures show. This is the highest figure since records began in 2004 and Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the ASCL school leaders’ union, slammed the rise as “a source of national shame”. He warned that living in temporary accommodation is likely to have an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of the children affected, and their educational outcomes. Overall, 117,450 households were in temporary accommodation as of the end of March. Among these, there were 74,530 households with children, up 4.6 per cent from the previous quarter — and up 14.7 per cent jump from March 2023. Labour’s manifesto pledged an “ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty” and Bridget Phillipson, education secretary, is jointly lead a ministerial taskforce develop this plan. “We …

Councils move hundreds of homeless families out of London with 24-hour ultimatums | Homelessness

Councils move hundreds of homeless families out of London with 24-hour ultimatums | Homelessness

Published by skeptic

Hundreds of homeless families were permanently forced out of London by councils last year after many were given 24-hour ultimatums to either accept a private tenancy far away from the capital or be kicked out of temporary accommodation and left on the streets. The campaign group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) found that 319 households in 2023 accepted offers of a private tenancy outside London. They were often given 24 hours by council officials to accept homes out of the capital or risk making themselves “intentionally homeless” by refusing an offer. One in 10 households who accepted these offers were placed in the north-east in places such as Hartlepool and Durham, and two in 10 were sent to the Midlands. The Midlands has been a popular place for London councils to privately discharge homeless families since 2017, but similar placements in the north-east are a recent trend. The far-flung placements have been driven by rising rents in the south-east that have not kept pace with local housing allowance (LHA) – the amount that private …

California Legislature demands data after homelessness audit

California Legislature demands data after homelessness audit

Published by skeptic

SACRAMENTO —  Democrats and Republicans expressed frustration Monday as they grilled Gov. Gavin Newsom’s top housing officials in a tense legislative hearing about how billions of state dollars have been spent on the worsening homelessness crisis. The hearing by the Assembly budget subcommittee on accountability and oversight came after a state audit released last month found that California has failed to adequately track the outcomes of its vast spending on homelessness programs, raising questions about efficacy and transparency. California has spent more than $20 billion over the past five years to help people get off the streets, but homelessness has continued to rise — jumping by 6% in 2023 to more than 180,000 people. California has been the state with the largest homeless population for more than a decade, according to the latest federal data. The audit raised concerns in the Legislature about whether the spending has worked and could hamper requests by cities and counties for more money to address the crisis as the state faces a massive budget deficit. Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) …

I was once homeless and addicted in London. I know charities like this matter

I was once homeless and addicted in London. I know charities like this matter

Published by skeptic

I don’t often talk here about the gigs I do. With the start of the Ibiza season having arrived and my gig at Glastonbury just announced, I thought I’d take a bit of time to let you know what I’ll be getting up to in London this week. Twelve years ago I got invited to play at the opening party of SushiSamba at the Heron Tower. Well, I’m excited to share that I was invited back for the launch of a new space. It has had a full refurbishment and looks fantastic. It’s so nice to be invited to be part of something all these years later as you have evolved and now the space too has evolved. You’d better go check it out. New, exciting spaces for London are always welcome. See you next Wednesday. Track of the week: London — Hifi Sean, Severino and FERAL is KINKY Source link

Manor Lords next patch will fix the homelessness issue

Manor Lords next patch will fix the homelessness issue

Published by skeptic

Unlike many of the surprise hit games this year such as Palworld and Helldivers, everybody kind of expected Manor Lords to do really and it has obliged. Great sales on Steam, coupled with its appearance on Game Pass has opened up the world of Middle Ages town building to the masses who have lapped it up. Manor Lords is early access however so those bugs need squashing and content needs adding. The devs at Slavic Magic have promised regular patches to fix up the worst of the early issues and it looks as though the first of these will be with us in the very near future. Taking to the Manor Lords account on X they said: “Main points for the planned next patch:-Fix all the weird homeless bugs-Tune the archer damage-Tune the trade oversupply mechanics (it’s too harsh and punishes regional specialization)-Slow down the rate of the AI claiming territoriesOh and…-Improve the sawpit efficiency/storage.” Main points for the planned next patch:-Fix all the weird homeless bugs-Tune the archer damage-Tune the trade oversupply mechanics (it’s …

Homelessness jumps 16% in England, laying bare scale of housing crisis | Homelessness

Homelessness jumps 16% in England, laying bare scale of housing crisis | Homelessness

Published by skeptic

The number of people being made homeless jumped by 16% in the final three months of last year, according to the latest government figures, which laid bare the scale of the country’s housing crisis. Figures published by the government on Tuesday show nearly 45,000 households in England were assessed as homeless in the three months to December, up from just under 39,000 during the same period in 2022. The figures also show the number of people – including children – in temporary accommodation hit record levels in 2023, triggering warnings of a housing “emergency”. Mike Amesbury, the shadow minister for homelessness, said: “These stats reveal a growing Tory housing emergency being felt by families in every part of the country. Over the past 14 years, the Tories have taken a wrecking ball to the foundation of a secure home, leaving Britain facing a homelessness epidemic. “Under this government’s watch, kids are growing up in temporary accommodation, coming home from school to do their homework on the bathroom floor of a hotel room and eating dinner …

The man who turned his home into a homeless shelter | Homelessness

The man who turned his home into a homeless shelter | Homelessness

Published by skeptic

When Jade and John came across Stuart Potts early this year, they were sleeping rough in Manchester city centre. It was during January’s brutal cold snap, but the pair couldn’t find a homeless shelter that would take them in as a couple, and they didn’t want to be separated. “We’ve been on the streets together; we’ve been through some of the worst nights of our life together,” said Jade, who is 38, with a hoarse voice and a broad Rochdale accent. Still, when someone from a local charity told them about a man putting homeless people up in his own house, they were suspicious. “I thought he was just going to be some fucking … ” Jade paused, looking for the right word, “teacher or something.” But when they met for a pint to scope him out, Jade was immediately reassured. “He’d been on the streets, and he’d been to prison. He was really normal, we just felt comfortable. He’s not judging.” They stayed at his flat that night. Stuart Potts, or Pottsy, as his friends call …

Opinion: Criminalizing homelessness is unconscionable. But unconstitutional?

Opinion: Criminalizing homelessness is unconscionable. But unconstitutional?

Published by skeptic

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about whether a small Oregon city can cite and prosecute homeless people for sleeping in public places when they have nowhere else to lay their heads. If the case reveals nothing else about the state of our country, it reveals this: We continue to fail the homeless people who live among us, and no single court ruling in the world is going to solve the underlying issues — the lack of affordable housing, widespread income equality, substance abuse and a shamefully insufficient social safety net. Opinion Columnist Robin Abcarian Grants Pass is a city of about 39,000 with a homeless population of about 600 and only enough shelter beds for 100; just one of the many American cities — especially in the West — that has been grappling with the issue of homelessness for years. San Francisco, Los Angeles and other municipalities filed friend-of-the court briefs supporting the law. Advocates for the homeless say cities want more power to sweep away encampments. Cities say they desperately want …