Fresh approach to homelessness

As published in the Suffolk Free Press, Thursday, October 4, 2018.
 

Every time I go into Bury St. Edmunds, Ipswich or Lowestoft, both homelessness and begging – which are not necessarily the same thing – seem to be getting worse.

I’m aware that the causes of homelessness are varied and frequently interlinked: relationship breakdowns, job losses, mental health issues and drug & alcohol dependency.

We're told that the increase in begging appears to be the result of a rise in networks of gangs, possibly part of a wider upwards trend in organised crime.

And I can only imagine by how much ‘professional beggars’ fleece other members of the public!

The national costs of dealing with homelessness are estimated to exceed £1 billion per year. Only last month, Mid Suffolk council trumpeted its opening of a 17-bed homeless centre in Stowmarket – at goodness know what cost to Council Taxpayers.

As a libertarian, who resists the encroachment of the state on ever more aspects of our lives and which taxes us in ever more ingenious ways, I can see that the current approaches are both costly and ineffective.

So what is the libertarian solution?

Firstly, it must be to remove the statutory requirement to provide state-run support for our adult homeless citizens.

Linked to this, should be improved mechanisms and positive support for individuals to fund charitable and faith-based groups to do their work more effectively, without the wasteful and bureaucratic state getting in the way. Indeed, local councils should be forced to waive the collection of business and/or domestic rates on any group supporting the homeless in any way.

In general, people are good to each other, and volunteers are far more generous and compassionate than government employees.

Secondly, whilst it is the right of everyone to give money to whomsoever they like, the social emphasis must be on encouraging donations to these charitable and faith-based bodies. Ipswich Labour MP Sandy Martin articulated something very similar recently – probably the first time I’ve ever agreed with him on anything!

I exercise my right not to give to individuals, no matter what their sales pitch is, instead preferring to support caring voluntary operations.

Interestingly, I don't see as many sellers of the Big Issue these days. I applaud that scheme as it gives people an economic focus and encourages them to rebuild their lives through their own efforts, rather than remain dependent on others.

We must also hold the same standards for all citizens. Therefore, anti-social behaviour and aggressive begging must be dealt with through prompt and effective action. No-one should feel intimidated or impeded by the actions of another.

I would also like to see neighbourhoods, both residents and businesses alike, taking more powers from the state to set their own standards of acceptable public behaviour and to take pride in and police their own areas.

I would like to see an extension of the schemes delivered by various Business Improvement Districts, including the one in Ipswich, whereby areas support their own anti-social behaviour monitors with defined powers of stop, search and (only as a last resort) arrest.

Finally, I would like to see a relaxation in our restricted and bloated planning system. With the support and agreement of the local community, if a homeless person has the will and drive to build him or herself a basic shelter or dwelling on designated public spaces, why should the state stop them? Better still, with the state at arms length, encourage those local communities to provide and offer accomodation, either as new build, temporary or converted.

On the principle that something is better than nothing, why not allow folks to get off the streets and have a shelter of their own for a limited number of months, on suitable council maintained sites as the first step to rebuilding their lives?

Weak sentimentality and a self-serving NIMBY'ism perpetuate the lives of misery of many. We need a new approach that addresses the core issues of homelessness and begging and offers practical steps for self-improvement.

We need a libertarian approach.

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