According to an article in Monday’s Guardian the Isle of Wight Council acted with some ingenuity in offering a 62 year old homeless woman a free tent, because under the current ridiculous DWP rules they were not allowed to make a cash payment to her. This rule is creating problems for Councils up and down the country and it is hardly consistent with the principle of localism! Had they been able to make a grant, we are told this lady would have done what she wished and used the money to put down a deposit to secure some temporary accommodation. The end result however was a good one for the lady concerned, as a result of the publicity surrounding her case the Council became aware of a suitable dwelling that ‘did not require’ a deposit!

A number of issues arise from this story. The first is that there is plenty of evidence to support the notion that poor housing (I think it is reasonable to accept that a tent is not good housing for a 62 year old) contributes to health costs far in excess of the costs for the well housed population. The second is that if the Council supplies a tent to someone, they have purchased that from one of their budgets, in other words they have spent our money. Assuming that they have a budget to buy a tent (i.e. that  they are not sitting on a stock of second hand tents), then they have the funds to cover the cost of a deposit. It is not the work of a genius to establish an agreement with a private landlord that the Council will act as guarantor for the deposit, or even pay a deposit that they agree will be returned to them and not the tenant. If the political will does not exist for that, in many areas the Churches have established rent deposit schemes. Even if this is not currently available, a call to the local Diocese would quickly ascertain if something could be provided on the basis of one particularly vulnerable case. The principle of finding accommodation for vulnerable people is at the heart of much of the work of many of our churches. Alternatively one would imagine that another local charity or perhaps a group such as the Rotary or Lions could be approached. Finally finding a landlord who ‘does not require’ a deposit is an option and clearly the one found in this case, albeit after this lady ended up having her story told by the media!

I wrote a few days ago, pointing out that the Tax Payers Alliance was failing to do what it claims to. This is the sort of case that “Britain’s independent grassroots campaign for lower taxes” should turn its attention to. This case has all of the merits of a Government agency knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. As stated above, the costs to the NHS of inadequately housed people is far greater than the costs of the well housed. Statistically, people living rough, place a greater burden on other services such as the Police. The near failure by the Council to deal with this should, and the short sighted policy by the DWP  be highlighted by the TPA but sadly they will probably be too busy supporting other causes much dearer to their so called Independent priorities.