17 staff members from Jackson Lees and Broudie Jackson Canter only had the stars for a roof when they slept out at Goodison Park last Friday night. They joined with 160 others to support Everton in the Community and the work they do to support rough sleepers. They exceed their target and an excellent sum of money was raised. On Saturday morning, each of these brave souls went back to their comfortable homes and no doubt had an extra good night’s sleep in their comfortable beds. The 45 people who will actually be sleeping out in the streets of Liverpool tonight do not have that luxury.
Well done to all our team led by 4 members of our Board who personify our ethos of making a difference as a legal business. Is it very uncomfortable for all of us to walk past someone huddled in a shop doorway, lying on cardboard waste or in a sleeping bag daily. Sometimes there is a dog for company but others seem completely isolated and alone. What on earth leads someone to resort to this way of living and why are the numbers increasing? At least we are saying that, as members of a concerned community, we need to do something about this.
The North West has seen one of the steepest increase in rough sleeping. Numbers have risen from 220 to 313 over the past year and this unfortunately is part of a national pattern. Numbers nationally have risen from 2500 to 4134, an increase of 60% over the past year and a threefold increase since 2010. Is this increase to do with poor mental health provision, the ‘no recourse to welfare benefit provision’ or is it to do with addiction or family breakdown? It is probably a combination of all these causes but it is also recognised that there are also a number begging among this community who are supporting drug or alcohol addictions.
Earlier this year, Liverpool City Council published its Routes out of Rough Sleeping Report, suggesting a number of ways in which this problem should be tackled. The themes deal with better co-ordination of resources and organisations helping in this sector, as well as some changes in the law e.g relating to no recourse to public funds. The Jackson Lees Group is one of only a handful of law firms still able to give advice in this area of law. Sometimes decisions made by the Benefits Agency are challengeable but lack of Legal Aid in this area is a big problem.
The report also concluded that there is a lot of charitable giving to support this work but co-ordination is needed to ensure it gets to those most in need and who have least access to state support. Mental Health provision is also patchy and does not reach those in need either. Again the Jackson Lees Group is equipped to provide cutting edge legal advice in Community Care and Mental Health issues which sometimes help although the real problem is a chronic lack of resources.
One of the other proposals made in the report is the provision more housing for young people. It is here that the Everton in the Community initiative comes in. Last year, more that £250,000 was raised to purchase properties for this group to provide supportive accommodation before problems spiral out of control. Young people between 16 and 23 with complex needs are helped before they end up on the sleeping on the streets. More resources are required as the need is great and that’s where this year’s Goodison Sleep Out comes in.
Rough sleeping is a serious and seemingly intractable problem but it is not right to do nothing. At Jackson Lees we are at least doing what we can to help.