A report said that rough sleeping should be tackled as a public health issue, with the Department of Health taking a lead on improving mental health services for vulnerable people.
Source: Down and Out? The final report of St Mungo's Call 4 Evidence – Mental health and street homelessness, St. Mungo's
Links: Report | St Mungos press release
Date: 2009-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs rejected calls to reinstate the ring fence for the Supporting People programme: but it warned that action needed to be taken to protect funding for vulnerable people receiving housing-related support.
Source: The Supporting People Programme, Thirteenth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 649, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | St Mungos press release | Community Care report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report summarized a peer research study in which people with experience of homelessness interviewed 103 people who were either sleeping rough, or in emergency shelters, hostels, or high-support housing. 85 per cent of those interviewed either had a diagnosed mental health problem or had concerns about their mental health. Despite improvements in mental health service provision, homeless people were still not able to access the treatment and support they needed.
Source: Helen Bilton, Happiness Matters: Homeless people's views about breaking the link between homelessness and mental ill health, St. Mungo's (020 8600 3003)
Links: Report | St Mungo's press release | Community Care report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report estimated that the £1.6 billion invested through the Supporting People programme had saved other services £3.41 billion – through reduced costs in homelessness, tenancy failure, crime, health, and residential care packages.
Source: Tom Ashton and Claire Hempenstall, Research Into the Financial Benefits of the Supporting People Programme, 2009, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Jul
A literature review examined mental ill-health in the adult single homeless population. Mental health problems were far higher among homeless people than the general population, and the government would fail to meet its zero rough sleeping target by 2012 if mental health services for homeless people were not urgently improved.
Source: Sian Rees, Mental Ill Health in the Adult Single Homeless Population: A review of the literature, Crisis (020 7015 1800)
Links: Report | Crisis press release | Inside Housing report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Apr
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on a strategy for the future of the Supporting People programme (providing housing help and advice to the most vulnerable people).
Source: Supporting People: Housing Related Support Strategy, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document | WAG press release
Date: 2009-Feb