In the coming months, the Centre for Social Justice will explore how the Government can extend its 'social reform' agenda to tackle homelessness. 

With an estimated 3,500 people sleeping rough on any one night we need a bold, new approach to housing to bring this figure down.  

In our recently published report, Home Improvements we set out one part of the solution by calling on the Government to incentivise the expansion of Social Lettings Agencies with services to help rough sleepers. This follows a CSJ survey of private landlords where 82 per cent said they would be unwilling to let their property to a homeless person. For most homeless people, many potentially affordable homes are simply unavailable.

A national strategy for Social Lettings Agencies simply will not be enough on its own. As Iain Duncan Smith outlined in his speech to the CSJ last week, welfare systems need to be more ‘human’ in order to tackle big social issues over the long term. The system should adapt to those most in need, not the other way round.

Where a rough sleeper has no family to support them, suffers from a severe mental illness or faces crippling addiction problems, an affordable available home is simply not enough on its own. If we want to turn lives around and reduce the number of people living rough on our streets we will need to tackle these ‘human’ issues.

Answering these and other tough questions will be the focus of CSJ work on Homelessness over the coming months.

Homelessness Statistics:

3,569 people were counted as rough sleepers on one night in autumn 2015. 

82 per cent of private landlords are not willing to rent to homeless people;

Half of rough sleepers who are UK nationals have a mental health condition

By Saskia Greenhalgh

Having committed to regenerate the 100 ‘worst sink estates’ in the UK, the Prime Minister should direct developers to place the Government’s Life Chances Agenda at the centre of their plans.

In the coming weeks the panel of experts charged with redesigning these new estates, led by former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine, will send out a ‘call for evidence’. This will be an important moment for the future of some of our poorest areas. In its review of our ‘worst’ estates, the panel should think carefully about how the Prime Minister’s commitment to a Life Chances Agenda can be put at the heart of these new developments.

The panel should go beyond bricks and mortar.

The Life Chances Agenda is about taking a more ‘social’ approach to tackling poverty. It moves beyond simply looking at money and asks how Government can support those previously trapped in persistent poverty. It is an agenda built around the ambition of turning lives around.  The CSJ will be pressing Michael Heseltine and his panel to ensure that the design of new estates meets the challenge set by the Prime Minister of tackling the root causes of poverty.

By Oenone Scott

Earlier this week the British Retail Consortium, the voice of the UK High Street, raised concerns over the impact the new National Living Wage will have on the retail sector. 

The High Street has a big role to play in helping the low paid to develop new skills and progress in work so they are not 'stuck' on the bottom of the pay scale. The High Street is one of the largest employers of low paid workers with 57 per cent of retail workers being paid the current minimum wage versus a national average of 21 per cent. 

In our 2014 investigation into Low Pay we found a quarter of low paid workers were stuck within 5p of the National Minimum Wage for a period of five years or more.  With a little over a month until the introduction of the National Living Wage Now is the time for big retailers to look at how they can help low paid workers develop new skills, more hours and progress beyond the lowest levels of pay.  

The National Living Wage is at the heart of the Government’s ambition for a ‘high-wage, low-welfare economy’. Its introduction shouldn’t be seen as an obstacle to a buoyant economy but an opportunity to move towards an economy where the low paid can develop new skills, earn more money and move out of poverty for good.

Big retailers should follow the lead of companies like B&Q who have embraced the Government’s Universal Credit reforms to help their shop floor workers increase their hours, develop new skills and earn a higher hourly rate – going well beyond the National Living Wage. 

Our retailers can play a big part in helping low paid workers to progress in work and, in many cases, out of persistent poverty. The introduction of a National Living Wage is a big moment for the British High Street.

By Lucy Kinder

The Government is on the hunt for a new Chief Inspector of Schools when current Ofsted boss, Sir Michael Wilshaw steps down.

Michael Wilshaw has increasingly used his national platform to challenge our education system to improve standards for our poorest children. He should be applauded for taking this stand. 

The next Chief Inspector of Schools should be someone who is unafraid of challenging both Government and our schools to do better when it comes to educating our poorest children. We need big social justice voices in our political debate and Michael Wilshaw should be congratulated on shining a spotlight on poor education and low aspiration in some of our poorest areas.

Only last week the Chief Inspector drew attention to the poor state of education in parts of our country. In many ways Education Secretary Nicky Morgan should be commended for her efforts in putting social justice at the heart of her education reforms, this shouldn’t however, exclude appointing a champion for our poorest children.