Housing Rights has responded to the Prisons’ Service “Prisons 2020” discussion document, which aims to “provide an efficient, effective, modern and affordable service which is focused on the development of staff and capable of rehabilitating people in custody.”
Homelessness is experienced differently by young people than by adults: the causes and conditions are different, so the responses and solutions must also be different.
A recent English High Court has provided some interesting observations in respect of the circumstances as to when a homeless decision can be revisited. Although the English position has variances to the law in Northern Ireland (NI), it does provide some useful guidance, and allows us the opportunity to look at aspects of the law in NI that are of relevance.
The Department for Communities has released the Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin for January – March 2017. The Bulletin demonstrates ongoing trends in several current policy issues, such as homelessness, housing supply and house prices.
Researchers at Heriot-Watt University have examined the evidence to increase our understanding of why some people are more at risk of becoming homeless than other people.
For many years, Housing Rights has provided housing advice to people entering and leaving custody in Northern Ireland’s three prisons. The housing advice in prisons project is funded by NIHE and the Northern Ireland Prison Service and is an essential way of preventing homelessness on release and sustaining tenancies for these vulnerable members of society.
The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 received Royal Assent in England & Wales on 27th April. Our Policy & Public Affairs Officer, Stephen Orme, takes a look at the key elements of the Act, and other recent progressions in homeless law.
A recent report from the Work and Pensions Committee has found the prison rehabilitation system “in desperate need of reform”. The report calls for improvements to be made to the, currently fragmented, support offered to people leaving prison, so that a transition into the community may be as smooth and positive as possible. The report states that currently:
