Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656
Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760
DONATE
Please help us to help more homeless people by setting up a monthly direct debit.
the Pavement relies on donations and volunteering from individuals and companies...
MORE ON DONATING
RECENT TWEETS
How reliable are the street counts and how does the council try to meet government targets?
A Pavement investigation has found evidence that the authorities operating in Westminster are actively attempting to skew the official homeless street count figures.
A source close to the magazine who wishes to remain anonymous, attended a meeting in which Victoria Van De Knapp, deputy rough sleeping manager for Westminster Council, local police and representatives from, amongst others, St Mungo's discussed what measures they would take to reduce the number of people bedding down in Westminster on the night of a scheduled headcount. "The police announced that they have changed their shift pattern to include a 12-hour night shift, so that they can wake people up between 1am and 5am, and tell them that they need to go into a hostel for the two weeks surrounding the headcount," our source said.
Anyone who refused to go indoors would be urged to temporarily leave the borough, the source added. The meeting took place in Victoria on 2nd September 2008, and the headcount took place on Wednesday 24th September 2008.
Meanwhile, there was a spike in the number of hostel vacancies on the Homeless London website in the run up to the headcount. On 10th September, there were more than 50 spaces available in the city, most of which were through Buildings Based Services that work with the council.
Website users contacted The Pavement to highlight this figure as being unusually high; they suspected that this indicated a count was due. For the weeks running up to the Westminster count vacancies remained at a similarly high level.
The Pavement has been following concerns about the manipulation of headcounts since it was launched. Our source from the meeting approached us because they considered the measures discussed to be inhumane.
"You can only sleep in Westminster between 1am and 5am; it is a busy part of the city, there are many people around, and so those on the streets are sleep-deprived anyway," the source told The Pavement. "If the police wake them in these crucial four hours, they may become disorientated. It is quite an aggressive tactic and quite like bullying behaviour."
Adam Rees, St Mungo's Group Manager for Community Services confirmed that his team was working with authorities in Westminster. "St Mungo's Westminster team work extremely hard to offer the best outcomes to their clients. This involves tailored approaches to each client depending on their needs and the resources available," he explained.
When asked whether any policy changes were being introduced at the time of street counts Mr Rees added: "Counting numbers on the streets is a simple measure to determine trends over time. The offer of hostel places and other services are common throughout the year. As are police activities. The idea that extra hostel beds are made available or people rushed through the system is simply false. Many vulnerable people are helped off the streets before counts and after counts. The reduction in numbers on the streets reflects better, more thoughtful and accountable service delivery and sheer hard work." The organisation did not comment on whether they attended the Westminster meeting.
At the same time as The Pavement received this information, our readers who highlighted the use of water bowsers in the City to disturb rough sleepers reported 'Operation Poncho' had restarted along Fleet Street on two consecutive nights in September.
The Corporation of London has denied restarting the action, which attracted outcry on the BBC earlier in the summer, but Pavement readers are adamant their sleep was being manipulated. It is unclear whether the action in the Square Mile is linked to events in Westminster.
A spokesperson for Westminster Council could not confirm a change in policy, but took care to explain why the authorities focus was on moving people indoors. "It has always been our stance that individuals suffer ill health and risk exposure to other risks while they remain on the streets. Hence, the outreach and Building Based workers within the voluntary sector do there utmost to encourage individuals to come indoors."
They did confirm that the authorities were 'meeting constantly' to monitor the number of rough sleepers in the borough and to ensure that the counts meet best practice guidelines set by central government.
"It ensures that we secure a reliable snap shot of who was sleeping on the streets on the night of the count along with demographic data and length of time on the streets," they added.
The Simon Community has described the treatment of rough sleepers in the borough as 'draconian.' Its service users and outreach workers had been made aware of Operation Poncho in the City and the increased 'welfare checks' being undertaken by police.
Steve Barnes, of the Simon Community, believes these early morning wake-ups and move-ons are intended to encourage people to engage with services, but said this was not a solution to the problem.
"Experience shows that coercion is not a cure for homelessness, successful detox or a reduction in chaotic behaviour. Rather it exacerbates an already volatile situation by inducing negative reactions amongst those it claims to help," he said.
"Any accommodation which is on offer is of a very poor standard and is neither a genuine offer of help nor suitable accommodation for those who are vulnerable through long periods of homelessness, substance abuse or mental or physical ill health."
The Simon Community, and other smaller charities working in the area, have not been invited to the council's meetings.
It is believed that the authorities are forced to adopt these measures in order to meet government-set targets. By reducing the number of rough sleepers registered in the headcounts, the police and charities operating in Westminster will appear to be succeeding in reducing the numbers of homeless people in the borough.
"Westminster set targets and they commission organisations such as St Mungo's, Thames Reach and Connections [at St Martin's] to meet them," explained our source. "If the targets are not met, charities such as these will be under pressure and may not secure further funding. The unspoken threat is that if these targets are not met, then the contracts will go elsewhere, they have no comeback, they cannot say that reducing the numbers is not possible, because that would be seen as a failure in their services."
Although the official Westminster count is independently verified, there is a call from homeless organisations to remove the responsibility of doing the count from the body that also holds the purse strings.
The fact that the numbers are linked so closely to the finances of the authorities collating them undermines the objectivity and accuracy of the counts, and also puts rough sleepers in the city at risk of mistreatment. A week before the official count, Housing Justice undertook an independent count. They use ex-rough sleepers, members of the Simon Community and outreach workers, who know where to find the city's homeless. Their count, on Tuesday 9th September, found 206 rough sleepers - almost double the official Westminster figures from June.
At the time of going to press, the figures for the official count were not available to us. However, we will report on them in the November issue.
October – November 2024 : Change
CONTENTS
BACK ISSUES
- Issue 152 : October – November 2024 : Change
- Issue 151 : August – September 2024 : Being Heard
- Issue 150 : June – July 2024 : Reflections
- Issue 149 : April – May 2024 : Compassion
- Issue 148 : February – March 2024 : The little things
- Issue 147 : December 2023 – January 2024 : Next steps
- Issue 146 : October 2023 – November 2023 : Kind acts
- Issue 145 : August 2023 – September 2023 : Mental health
- Issue 144 : June 2023 – July 2023 : Community
- Issue 143 : April 2023 - May 2023 : Hope springs
- Issue 142 : February 2023 - March 2023 : New Beginnings
- Issue 141 : December 2022 - January 2023 : Winter Homeless
- Issue 140 : October - November 2022 : Resolve
- Issue 139 : August - September 2022 : Creativity
- Issue 138 : June - July 2022 : Practical advice
- Issue 137 : April - May 2022 : Connection
- Issue 136 : February - March 2022 : RESPECT
- Issue 135 : Dec 2021 - Jan 2022 : OPPORTUNITY
- Issue 134 : September-October 2021 : Losses and gains
- Issue 133 : July-August 2021 : Know Your Rights
- Issue 132 : May-June 2021 : Access to Healthcare
- Issue 131 : Mar-Apr 2021 : SOLUTIONS
- Issue 130 : Jan-Feb 2021 : CHANGE
- Issue 129 : Nov-Dec 2020 : UNBELIEVABLE
- Issue 128 : Sep-Oct 2020 : COPING
- Issue 127 : Jul-Aug 2020 : HOPE
- Issue 126 : Health & Wellbeing in a Crisis
- Issue 125 : Mar-Apr 2020 : MOVING ON
- Issue 124 : Jan-Feb 2020 : STREET FOOD
- Issue 123 : Nov-Dec 2019 : HOSTELS
- Issue 122 : Sep 2019 : DEATH ON THE STREETS
- Issue 121 : July-Aug 2019 : INVISIBLE YOUTH
- Issue 120 : May-June 2019 : RECOVERY
- Issue 119 : Mar-Apr 2019 : WELLBEING
- Issue 118 : Jan-Feb 2019 : WORKING HOMELESS
- Issue 117 : Nov-Dec 2018 : HER STORY
- Issue 116 : Sept-Oct 2018 : TOILET TALK
- Issue 115 : July-Aug 2018 : HIDDEN HOMELESS
- Issue 114 : May-Jun 2018 : REBUILD YOUR LIFE
- Issue 113 : Mar–Apr 2018 : REMEMBRANCE
- Issue 112 : Jan-Feb 2018
- Issue 111 : Nov-Dec 2017
- Issue 110 : Sept-Oct 2017
- Issue 109 : July-Aug 2017
- Issue 108 : Apr-May 2017
- Issue 107 : Feb-Mar 2017
- Issue 106 : Dec 2016 - Jan 2017
- Issue 105 : Oct-Nov 2016
- Issue 104 : Aug-Sept 2016
- Issue 103 : May-June 2016
- Issue 102 : Mar-Apr 2016
- Issue 101 : Jan-Feb 2016
- Issue 100 : Nov-Dec 2015
- Issue 99 : Sept-Oct 2015
- Issue 98 : July-Aug 2015
- Issue 97 : May-Jun 2015
- Issue 96 : April 2015 [Mini Issue]
- Issue 95 : March 2015
- Issue 94 : February 2015
- Issue 93 : December 2014
- Issue 92 : November 2014
- Issue 91 : October 2014
- Issue 90 : September 2014
- Issue 89 : July 2014
- Issue 88 : June 2014
- Issue 87 : May 2014
- Issue 86 : April 2014
- Issue 85 : March 2014
- Issue 84 : February 2014
- Issue 83 : December 2013
- Issue 82 : November 2013
- Issue 81 : October 2013
- Issue 80 : September 2013
- Issue 79 : June 2013
- Issue 78 : 78
- Issue 77 : 77
- Issue 76 : 76
- Issue 75 : 75
- Issue 74 : 74
- Issue 73 : 73
- Issue 72 : 72
- Issue 71 : 71
- Issue 70 : 70
- Issue 69 : 69
- Issue 68 : 68
- Issue 67 : 67
- Issue 66 : 66
- Issue 65 : 65
- Issue 64 : 64
- Issue 63 : 63
- Issue 62 : 62
- Issue 61 : 61
- Issue 60 : 60
- Issue 59 : 59
- Issue 58 : 58
- Issue 57 : 57
- Issue 56 : 56
- Issue 56 : 56
- Issue 55 : 55
- Issue 54 : 54
- Issue 53 : 53
- Issue 52 : 52
- Issue 51 : 51
- Issue 50 : 50
- Issue 49 : 49
- Issue 48 : 48
- Issue 47 : 47
- Issue 46 : 46
- Issue 45 : 45
- Issue 44 : 44
- Issue 43 : 43
- Issue 42 : 42
- Issue 5 : 05
- Issue 4 : 04
- Issue 2 : 02
- Issue 1 : 01
- Issue 41 : 41
- Issue 40 : 40
- Issue 39 : 39
- Issue 38 : 38
- Issue 37 : 37
- Issue 36 : 36
- Issue 35 : 35
- Issue 34 : 34
- Issue 33 : 33
- Issue 10 : 10
- Issue 9 : 09
- Issue 6 : 06
- Issue 3 : 03
- Issue 32 : 32
- Issue 31 : 31
- Issue 30 : 30
- Issue 29 : 29
- Issue 11 : 11
- Issue 12 : 12
- Issue 13 : 13
- Issue 14 : 14
- Issue 15 : 15
- Issue 16 : 16
- Issue 17 : 17
- Issue 18 : 18
- Issue 19 : 19
- Issue 20 : 20
- Issue 21 : 21
- Issue 22 : 22
- Issue 23 : 23
- Issue 24 : 24
- Issue 25 : 25
- Issue 8 : 08
- Issue 7 : 07
- Issue 26 : 26
- Issue 27 : 27
- Issue 28 : 28
- Issue 1 : 01