Islington Tribune - News: Town Hall streets ahead in tackling rough sleepers

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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 16 November 2007

Town Hall streets ahead in tackling rough sleepers

Town halls across London are to learn from Islington how to tackle homelessness.
The borough’s past record includes having the lowest level of rough sleepers in central London and reducing the number of families in temporary accommodation by 30 per cent since 2004.
Now the government has chosen Islington, and another London borough, Hillingdon, as regional champions which will give advice to neighbouring councils.
This means representatives from the council must spend at least 20 days visiting other councils struggling with the problem of homelessness. To make this possible, the government has awarded the borough a £15,000 grant to provide cover for staff as they visit other councils.
Lib Dem housing chief Councillor Terry Stacy said: “Homelessness is one of the most upsetting and disruptive things that can happen to an individual or family and we’ve made it a priority to lessen its impact within the community.
“We have a lot to offer other local authorities by way of experience and I’m delighted that the government has recognised our efforts and that we’re leaders in this field.”
Islington will provide advice on reaching government targets, which call for the number of households in temporary accommodation to be halved by 2010 and which demand that no homeless families with children stay in bed-and-breakfast accommodation except in an emergency.
The council has set up a specialised outreach team and committed itself to reducing the number of households in temporary accommodation to 765 over the next three years.
Cllr Stacy added: “We have made a commitment to tackling homelessness that fellow councils can learn from and we are happy to share our expertise.”

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