LET'S MAKE HOMELESSNESS HISTORY

Dear John

Yesterday, I set out what I see as the moral mission of the next
Metro-mayor: to make homelessness history in the West Midlands.

Over the last three years I worked with homeless citizens, councillors,
outreach groups and the whole host of homelessness campaign groups. And as
a constituency MP, my team and I have helped hundreds with housing cases.
This plan is based on what I've heard. [1]

1. Cutting the £1 million costs of the Mayor's 'secret consultants' and
using the money to create an Emergency Fund to pay for round-the-clock
support and shelter, guaranteeing that we have more beds than rough
sleepers all year-round so that no-one need sleep homeless. These services
will build on and expand the models pioneered by the Good Shepherd Ministry
in Wolverhampton, Birmingham's Sifa Fireside, Hope into Action Black
Country and Hope Coventry.

2. Becoming Britain's biggest council house builder with a goal of doubling
the number of affordable homes built each year. As we mark the 100th
anniversary of council housing, I say we need a Green Development
Corporation to help councils radically expand the supply of council housing
and social rent homes, with a goal of doubling the speed of affordable
homes.

* Last year, just 1,482 affordable homes were built in our region. Our goal
is to add at least 1,500 homes on top of this each year. This will allow us
to halve the current 35 years it is likely to take to offer a home to all
the 51,870 people on council waiting lists in our region.

* Wherever possible, these will be green council houses - with solar
panels, household batteries and EV charge points, almost eliminating energy
bills, and safeguarding against fuel poverty.

* Accommodation supply for women escaping domestic violence will also be
immediately expanded, building on the work of some Labour councils already
doing this.

3. Vastly improve mental health and addiction services and benefits advice,
by creating a 10-year fund for Councils and the third sector to finance
wrap-around health, mental health and addiction services and benefits
advice, delivered where necessary via Street Teams, and harnessing the
expertise of those with lived experience of homelessness.

4. Create a region-wide private landlord licensing scheme to crack down on
unfair practice and exploitation.

Already some cities like Liverpool are pursuing region-wide private sector
landlord licensing schemes to crack down on dodgy landlords. We should
follow suite, with a goal of raising all home to a healthy homes standard
set by the Town and Country Planning Association.

5. Negotiate a 'duty to collaborate to prevent homelessness' on all public
agencies, including the DWP, Prison Service and hospitals, to prevent
homelessness occurring in the first place.

I have been working closely with people on the ground who truly understand
how we can crack this tragedy.

Their backing means I can feel confident that we can end homelessness in
our region.

Nobby Clarke, Coventry Winter Night Shelter founder & Coventry Emergency
Shelter Project Leader, said:

"Liam Byrne is the first senior politician to convince me that they have a
grasp of the problems faced by the vulnerable and the homeless, as well as
a realistic understanding of the necessary strategy needed to reduce the
impact of poverty and promote a hopeful recovery in our community. "

Cllr Sharon Thompson, Cabinet Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods,
Birmingham City Council, said:

"Liam's passion, drive and work ethic, his inspiring work on homelessness
and his ambitious strategy for the West Midlands means that he is a
candidate who can fight and win the Mayorality for Labour. He's got my full
support."

Matthieu Lambert, CEO of Hope Into Action Black Country said:

"I am seeking to make homelessness history. If elected, I believe Liam
Byrne will have the humility and wisdom to involve and listen to people at
a grassroots level in shaping policy and making real difference."

Cllr John Cotton, Chair of Labour Housing Association said:

"Liam is right: homelessness is a moral emergency - so what we need is a
Labour Metro-Mayor with both the personal passion to end it and the deep
commitment to back up Labour councils on the frontline. Liam has both and
that's why I'm supporting him."

It is simply not acceptable that we have people dying on our streets in one
of the richest countries on Earth. Our moral mission must be to make
homelessness history. If I am elected that is exactly what I will do.

Join my campaign by clicking here [2]. Read our homelessness manifesto here
[1], watch the video below and click here to share it on Twitter [3]!
[4]

Best wishes

LIAM BYRNE MP

FURTHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE

Background to Mr Street's secret consultants can be found here:
[link removed]


Rough sleeping has more than tripled between 2010 and 2018 - with a rise of
nine-fold in Birmingham and a six-fold rise in Sandwell.

The number of West Midlands homeless children in temporary accommodation
has almost tripled since the start of 2013; in Coventry, it's risen nearly
seven-fold. Children now make up over one quarter (27%) of those in
temporary accommodation across the West Midlands.

Over-crowding is at crisis levels - higher in the Black Country and
Birmingham than in either Greater Manchester and England as a whole.

Rents in the West Midlands are rising faster than anywhere else - up 35% in
Birmingham compared to 19% across England.

The safety net of services, which once stopped vulnerable people becoming
homeless - and helped the homeless back on their feet - has been cut to
shreds.

* The region's number of mental health cases is rising four times faster
than funding.
* A quarter of the region's residents live in areas where mental health
spending is being cut.
* Drug and alcohol addiction services have been cut by over £5 million
across the region - an incredible 12% reduction.

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