1. Homelessness in Oxford 27 September Simon Bennett, Partnership Officer Rough Sleeping and Single Homelessness Team Oxford City Council

2. Vagrants, rogues and vagabonds
First law in England against vagrants was in 1349
Vagabond Acts (1530, 1531, 1547, 1572, 1597)
Poor Law Relief Act 1601, 1662
Workhouse Test Act 1723
Poor Law Removal Act 1795
Vagrancy Act 1824
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
Old Age Pension Act 1908
National Insurance Act 1911
National Assistance Act 1948

3. Pressures in Oxford A small city with a young population & large PRS
Limited options for new housing supply
Increasingly unaffordable PRS & reduced access for those with poor tenancy histories/ on benefits
High & rising homeless pressures
Rising cost of living; welfare reform etc.
Pressure on supported hostels, with further pressure & cuts expected

4. Why do people become homeless?
Personal causes – individual, family background, institutional
Structural causes – unemployment, poverty, lack of affordable housing, housing policies, welfare reform
Reasons given by homeless people – loss of tenancy, relationship breakdown incl. domestic violence

5. Rough sleeping in Oxford March 2012 to November 2017

6. Rough sleeping in Oxford – current situation
Figures published by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in January 2017 show that the number of people sleeping rough increased nationally by 15%
Just under half of this increase was due to increases reported by eight local authorities, including Oxford
Rough sleeping in City increased from 12 (Nov 2012) to (Nov 2017)
Of the 61 people identified on the night of the count:
55 people found were already known to services
22 having rough slept in the city for over 6 months
Most had high level support needs including 25 who had mental ill health issues (10 of these 25 known drug users), 24 who misuse drugs, and 20 misuse alcohol

7. Local connection is key

8. Is rough sleeping a housing or a mental health issue?

9. Housing pressures 1
Oxford has a population of 161,300, inc 32,000 full time students. Another 46,000+ people travel into Oxford for work
Population is set to grow to about 180,000 by (12th fastest city growth in the UK)
Average house price of £491,900 is around 16 times the average yearly household income
More people in Oxford rent their homes (51%) than own them (47%)
Average private rent for a 3 bed house is £300 pw - Over half average earnings and 30% above the LHA (Housing Benefit) rate

10. Housing pressures 2
There are over 3,000 households on the Housing Register, with more than double that living in overcrowded housing, and a growing backlog of housing need
Homelessness is increasing in the City with more people approaching the City Council for help and more people sleeping on the streets
Approx .28,000 more homes need to be built to meet Oxford’s housing needs up to 2031
Approx. only 7,500 homes can be built within Oxford in that period (mostly land constraints)

11. Health 1
Consequence of structural and individual factors: ill health can be a contributory factor
Homelessness can result in ill health or exacerbate existing health conditions
People who experience homelessness can struggle to access quality health care and social care
Homeless report much poorer health than the general population

12. Health 2
Average age of death, 30 years earlier than the general population
Drug and alcohol abuse
Nine times more likely to commit suicide
More likely to die from ‘external’ causes:
Traffic accidents (3 x)
Infections (2 x)
Falls (2 x)
Physically and mentally more challenging
Significant impact on health and wellbeing
Homelessness kills: An analysis of the mortality of homeless people in early twenty-first century England. (Crisis 2012)

13. Support needs of rough sleepers

14. What are we doing to help rough sleepers?

16. Outreach Service
OxSPOT (St Mungo’s) is the first point of contact for people sleeping rough in Oxford City
Out on the streets (often between 6am and 9am) to assess and verify rough sleepers. Conduct welfare checks, make referrals to accommodation and signpost to services
In the districts, Connection Support provide the Outreach Service
If you know a patient will be sleeping rough on discharge you can make a referral to the outreach services. This can be done using the Streetlink service: or
Referrals can come from a member of the public, professional or be a self referral

17. Adult Homeless Pathway
Oxford City Council commission 187 beds across the city, for rough sleepers with a local connection to Oxford. Further beds for those with a connection to the districts (210 by Oct 2018)
Access to these beds is controlled by the council working in partnership with Outreach. The ‘sit-up’ service at O’Hanlon takes rough sleepers on an emergency basis – before connection confirmed
Recently secured over £1.0m from central government to commission range of additional beds
Council in partnership with service provides operates the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) which provided 827 nights of shelter over winter and turned nobody away
Day Services can be accessed by anyone and are available at the Porch (Cowley Road), O’Hanlon (City Centre) and The Gatehouse (Woodstock Road)

18. Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP)
Additional bed spaces are provided to rough sleepers during severe and cold weather
During :
144 individuals accessed SWEP – the highest number ever
SWEP was also open for an unusually high number of nights during March
Total number of stays at 827 was the highest ever recorded
Everyone who needed a bed space received one

19. GP support
If a person is homeless in Oxford or have been in the past and does not have a GP they can register at Luther Street Medical Centre (01865) Mon-Fri between 9-10:30am
Luther Street do not require patients to have a local connection to be seen
Outside of Oxford, patients may be able to access mainstream GP surgeries if already registered, or could access primary care at walk-in centres or local health centres, contact the relevant district for further information

20. Other interventions
Anti-social behaviour – nuisance, environmental, personal
Supporting businesses - speaking to rough sleepers , advising businesses what their rights and responsibilities, liaising with the outreach team and Thames Valley Police as necessary
Abandoned belongings
Public Health
Encampments

21. Prevention - Trailblazers
Commissioned 6 embedded housing workers, with 2 operating in each of the identified systems.
In respect of health the officers are embedded in all of general hospitals across Oxfordshire and Mental Health wards. The work started at DTOC and progressively moved upstream by attending ward rounds with social workers, enabling hospital staff to spot indicators of homelessness
In the criminal justice system, EHWs are based in CRC and NPS offices in the community, as well as at Bullingdon and Spring Hill prisons to support resettlement staff to prevent individuals leaving prison NFA.
The officers embedded in Children’s Social Services sit with LCSS and Early Help, to provide robust housing assistance at the earliest possible opportunity.

22. Living on the Streets
“Once you’re in that flat, that’s it, you’re by yourself. You might be, like, ‘I can’t cope with this,’ you know what I mean? You need to have people around. When you’re in a hostel you’ve got people around you. You can go and talk to members of staff, you know what I mean? Have a laugh and a joke with other people. You haven’t got that. It’s a real lonely life, being in a flat. I just don’t think there’s enough support, really, for it. There never has been and I don’t think there ever will be.” (Paul, male client) On My Own Two Feet – Why do some people return to rough sleeping after time off the street? (St Mungo’s 2018)

23. Living on the Streets
“It got easier the longer I stayed out, the longer I was sleeping rough, the more easy. I became more resilient to the weather. I became more resourceful with things that I found. […] It was a major contributor to it. It just became more easy to live rough.”
(Billie, female client)
On My Own Two Feet – Why do some people return to rough sleeping after time off the street? (St Mungo’s 2018)

24. What can you do to help
Report a rough sleeper - through the national or
Funds – Oxford Poverty Action
Buy – a Big Issue, visit Crisis Skylight Café or the Old Fire Station shop
Donate - Donate warm winter clothes, sleeping bags and toiletries to O’Hanlon House or The Gatehouse or furniture to Emmaus Oxford
Volunteer – The Porch or Connections Support
Campaign – Crisis or Shelter

25. Partnership - City Conversation
Vision
To ensure that nobody has to sleep rough on the streets of Oxford
Principles
People are safer off the streets
Rough sleepers need shelter and support 
Everyone can help 
We are better together
Lived experience matters
Small change should deliver big change 
Interim Steering Group
Aspire, St Mungo’s, Homeless Oxfordshire, The Porch Day Centre, Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire Community Foundation, the University of Oxford, Thames Valley Police and Crisis Skylight
Website:

26. Simon Bennett – Partnership Officer
Thank you
Simon Bennett – Partnership Officer