When the home secretary calls living in tents “a lifestyle choice” something has gone seriously wrong in her understanding of rough sleeping. Five years ago, Milton Keynes, where I am a councillor, was labelled a “tent city”. Today, no one needs to sleep rough on our streets. Suella Braverman could learn a lot from how we did that, and how it could be replicated elsewhere.
For a start, we didn’t make giving people tents a civil offence. Tents are a symptom, not the cause.
Homeless people need somewhere to go that is safe and warm, that also has trained staff who can handle complex issues, including poor mental health and drug- and alcohol-addiction. In Milton Keynes, we built a 19-bed shelter on the top floor of the old bus station. On the ground floor, all the voluntary and statutory services that are needed to support people were brought together. This is key to the success of the homelessness partnership in the city.
People who sleep rough tend to lead chaotic lives and are very vulnerable to exploitation. They are twice as likely as other members of the public to have common mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, and many of them self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. Having services under one roof means they do not fall between the gaps between services: each person is treated as a whole person.
It is no easy feat to bring together GPs, mental health and probation services, drug and alcohol support and the council’s housing services, all in a shared place. Each of these organisations has its own targets, cultures and funding streams, which often makes it difficult for them to work together. But the difference made by joined-up working is enormous, and very much worth the effort. Too many homeless people fail in their attempts to travel to different places and attend different appointments, often in environments that may be triggering for them. By bringing the services to them, we are giving them their best chance at success.
But statutory services alone aren’t enough to counter the trauma they have often experienced. So after everyone has had a warm and safe bed for the night, in the morning the voluntary services downstairs step in. The hairdressers and laundry service means they can regain self-respect and feel seen again. A local restaurant regularly provides food, accommodating residents’ dietary requirements. The charity UnityMK offers food, accommodation advice and help with gaining ID, setting up bank accounts, accessing benefits and other services such as medical care and counselling. There’s also a free and confidential service helping people break a cycle of addiction to substances, or long term alcohol or gambling addictions. And people who will share a cuppa and listen.
Nonetheless, if you have been living on the streets for years, one night in a shelter is not going to solve all your problems. In Milton Keynes, we still see many who do not succeed – but we are there to catch them again. It takes persistence, patience and understanding – all of which exist in statutory services as well as in the voluntary sector. Since converting the old bus station in April 2022, up to the end of October 2023, we have supported 145 people into accommodation – including supported housing, reconnections with family, connections in and outside the UK and in the private rental sector. Working with our partner agencies – including the Bus Shelter MK, Emmaus and the Salvation Army – has had a huge part to play in people being successful in moving on.
We still have some people who refuse to come in – 16 people, to be precise. They are well known to the council and are visited every day, and they all have their own reasons for currently sleeping rough. Many of them have complex needs such as longstanding mental health problems and past trauma; others are still struggling with drug and alcohol misuse and are not ready to accept the support on offer. My hope is that one day we will be able to help all 16. But not by forcing them, taking their tents or sleeping bags or ignoring the real issues that led them to the streets in the first place. Taking away their free will and choices would be setting them up to fail.
People do not end up living in a tent by “choice”. It is the underinvestment in key services and institutions that have meant they missed the help they needed earlier on in their lives. The past 13 years have seen devastating cuts to mental health services and addiction treatment. The lack of affordable housing and the cost of living crisis mean that losing your job may lead you to living in a tent. Trauma in childhood that is never treated leads to re-victimisation on the streets.
Making it a civil offence to provide tents to homeless people is not the way to end rough sleeping. Instead, we need to support people who are spiralling. Homelessness could happen to any of us. A government with any compassion would not forget this.
Emily Darlington is cabinet member for housing, Milton Keynes council, and Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Milton Keynes Central
