Haringey cheated of fair share of Government homelessness money

The political leaders of three London councils today called for an urgent and fundamental review of homelessness funding in the capital.

Enfield, Haringey and Newham have called for a meeting with Housing Minister Grant Shapps to raise concerns about the way in which London’s annual Homelessness Grant is allocated.

It is unfair and leads to major disparities between boroughs, they argue.

The three outer London boroughs are "dismayed" at Government plans to extend the current system for another four years without any review or consultation.

Haringey, Enfield and Newham have among the highest levels of homelessness in the capital and yet receive the lowest amount of Government funding to tackle the problem.

And the problems are compounded by the impending changes to the housing benefit system which will drive families out of central London and into outer London boroughs – putting further pressure on available homes.

Cllr Claire Kober, leader of Haringey Council, speaking on behalf of all three councils, said:

"We are dismayed by the Government’s decision to continue with a homelessness grant funding regime that is neither fair nor based on any evidence of relative need.

"We cannot understand why the Government is unwilling or unable to take into account the scale of each borough’s homelessness problem and the resources we are already investing in tackling homelessness when determining the amount of grant each London borough should receive."

Key statistics:

* The amount of annual grant paid ranges from £100,000 (awarded to six boroughs) to £6,600,000 (awarded to Westminster).

* Westminster, Lambeth, Camden, Hammersmith & Fulham, Southwark and Kensington & Chelsea receive 65% of London’s Homelessness Grant but, between them, are accommodating only 18% of London’s households in temporary accommodation.

* Haringey, Newham and Enfield are accommodating 24% of London’s 37,900 households in temporary accommodation but are receiving, between them, just 3% (£650,000) of London’s Homelessness Grant.

* Based on the number of households in temporary accommodation, Haringey’s base grant allocation of £200,000 is equivalent to £57 for each of its 3,454 households in TA. For Newham and Enfield, the grant figure for each household in TA is £61 and £107 respectively compared to over £16,000 for the City of London and between £1700 and £3330 per household for Westminster, Camden and Hammersmith & Fulham.

* Between them, Haringey and Newham have 13 times the number of households in temporary accommodation as Hammersmith and Fulham and yet, between them, they will receive £4.4 million less than Hammersmith & Fulham over the next four years.

Attached is a copy of the letter sent to Schapps by the three council leaders.