Petitions that get results...

Following on from yesterday's post about the use of petitions, I was pleased to receive a response from my local authority, South Lakeland District Council, in respect of a petition on care2.com that I signed back in June of this year.  The petition "Stop housing discrimination against homeless people with pets" called for a rethink in the way that homeless people with pets are dealt with, and a copy of the petition was sent to each local authority.

The response from Cllr Graham Vincent, the council's Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, thanked me for raising the issue and explained the council's position,  insofar as housing homeless persons meant they often had to share accommodation (I presume this means hostels) and that having pets in such places was not appropriate so the pet was kennelled overnight (presumably at the council's expense.) He also referred to families escaping domestic abuse and that having pets housed with children is not always appropriate.

Cllr Vincent went on to explain that the council was currently revising their housing strategy and that this issue would be looked at as a part of that review, and that he will raise the matter at the regional Homelessness Forum to see if there are other options which may be better.

I have to say that I am delighted to have the reply from Cllr Vincent, and his assurance that he will look at this again.  I shall respond to him and make some comments and suggestions which I hope he may find of use.

Whilst I understand the reasoning behind the council's stance, I do feel very strongly that where a homeless person has been sleeping on the street and their only companion has been a dog, that it is wrong to separate person and dog as part of the rehousing issue. The dog is a vital part of the well-being of that person, possibly their only friend or companion, and once parted both will suffer.

The same can apply to families - if children are forcibly separated from their pets due to homelessness / rehousing, it can simply add to their trauma. Maintaining the continuity and stability of the good things in a child's life is essential when they are faced with domestic violence or abuse issues, as it will help them to cope with the huge changes they are going through.

If the current method of housing homeless persons does not allow for them to keep their pets then we really need to be rethinking how and where we rehouse people.  It's difficult enough being homeless without the distress of losing a loyal and trusted companion also.  I look forward to hearing how my local authority will progress this issue and hope they will be brave enough to consider some alternatives to the status quo.

Why has homelessness become such a big problem?

When I moved to London in 1981 I was staggered at seeing people sleeping on the streets, living in cardboard boxes on street corners, sleeping in subways and on park benches.

I had moved from Kendal in Cumbria, where there were two people who slept rough, both of whom apparently refused to live in proper housing for their own reasons. 

That people had to sleep rough was such a revelation to me...  now almost 35 years on and there are even more people sleeping on the streets or being dumped in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

People with mental health issues, young people, homeless families, or ex service-people who have nowhere else to live and who are suffering the awful after-effects of their involvement in any of the more recent conflicts.

How can this be? Why and how have we got it so wrong as a society?  How do we solve the problem?  And how quickly can we solve it?  We need social housing, we need affordable housing, we need a variety of housing suitable for the different needs of people. Not just family homes, but flats or houses for single people, for elderly people, for disabled people, for everyone to be able to have a place they can call their own.  It should not be too much to ask in 2015 that we all have somewhere to live!

*Jeremy Corbyn's housing manifesto proposes a radical rebooting of home construction permitting councils to be house builders and providers in order to meet the demand for affordable housing in their own areas:  PDF LINK

*  The new Leader of the Labour Party, just in case you missed it!