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Homeless services funding under threat in London

December 08 2010
‘Repatriating‘ funds to local authorities could face a legal challenge

Funding for homeless, drug and domestic violence services in London is under threat because of a change in the way money is allocated.

At present, councils across London pool £26.4 million to spend on these services across the capital. But the Government is considering "repatriating" the funds to individual councils. Consultation meetings have been taking place across the city, but a final decision is expected by December.

If funds are repatriated, projects - many of which were awarded contracts until at least 2012 - will be guaranteed backing only until April next year.

The move could threaten a key funding source for a number of services including the Nia project and Eaves Housing for Women, which support domestic violence victims, and the New Horizon Youth Centre, which supports 16-21-year-olds with multiple needs from almost every London Borough.

A key problem with the proposed change is that homeless people are often transient, moving from borough to borough, so a council-specific funding scheme would fail to reach them.

Also, victims of domestic violence often need to move away from an area at short notice, making it essential that services are accessible by all Londoners.

The Roma Support Group, a London Councils-funded project working with East European Roma refugees, has notified London Councils that it intends to apply for a judicial review. This would, effectively, see them challenge a decision to repatriate the London Councils funding as unlawful, and a judge would have to consider whether the process was fair or unfair.

According to the Women's Resource Centre, which offers advice and support to women's organisations, London Councils has already decided that it cannot guarantee funding for voluntary organisations beyond March of next year, partly because of the big cuts in central government spending announced in October's Comprehensive Spending Review.

Organisations such as the Scarlet Centre, a pan-London organisation that offers support for women, risk losing their funding and having to close, meaning a potentially vital service for at-risk women could disappear.

Joanna Goodbody, of the Scarlet Centre, said a change in funding arrangements would be a "devastating blow" to the centre, as councils tend not to prioritise women's support. She is calling for individuals and partner agencies to support the centre's work by sending an email of support to joanna.goodbody@eaveshousing.co.uk, asking London Councils to commit to fund the valuable services that the centre provides for women.

Rebecca Evans and John Ashmore

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