Proposal to cut 10 per cent of Greenwich staff dealing with homelessness
Greenwich Council’s Cabinet will discuss finances tomorrow (27th January) with a number of cuts on the agenda.
One such cost cutting measure would see 10 staff leave in a department dealing with homelessness prevention.
A report states: “The current service is very paper-based from initial access throughout the homelessness application process to a decision being made on eligibility. The initial access to the service is through a Housing Plan where residents have to provide paper-based evidence. This process could be the start of digitisation and creating service efficiencies with residents having online service plans created before their initial meeting with the service. This process could be carried on throughout the application process and tie into offering residents “Prevention” opportunities through digital interactions.”
With 100 staff this would see a 10 per cent cut. The report states “On benchmarking with other local authorities (with similar or greater demand), services contain between 60 – 80 posts suggesting that efficiencies could be made in the service and staff savings released”.
Government cuts to local authorities have hit council finances hard as has the pandemic over the past year. Housing demand has also rocketed across the borough recently, with housing waiting lists up to 23,000 and homeless households rising to 1,442 in autumn 2020 – a rise of over 250 since February 2020.
A lack of social housing means many are housed in expensive short term accommodation.
Consultation would take place imminently with implementation by Q3 2021
if the plan proceeds. The forecast is a £378,000 saving per year.
To be honest I believe it would be more cost effective for Greenwich Counci to abolish Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB) which is a real drain on council finances with no real results. GLLaB receives large amount of funds through out the year which could and should be spent elsewhere in the Borough.
Staff and services provided by GLLaB could be absorbed by other Government funded training providers that provide training services in the area for unemployed people.
With priority going to vital front line services for children, the elderly, disabled and other vulnerable children and adults including the homeless.
To register for help with the Greenwich Council Homeless Options Services you have to have been in the area for six months and have proof of this. (Normally an adress in the area and i.e utility bill for example to confirm this) Prior to applying for help with the service (which is standard for all Local Authorities). Organistations like Street Link and St Mungo’s can provide help and advice. to homeless people.
I was going to go into this long, soul-bearing litany of how Greenwich Homeless Department dealt with me. (I was Homeless for nearly 3 years.) I was going to tell how they degraded me, and made me feeling like an absolute steaming pile. I was going to say how they tried to intimidate, and cajole me into taking a place that was absolutely not a place I should’ve ever been forced into. (I would like to say tricked, but I won’t.)
The whole experience dealing with them was very lonely, and very adversarial.
I got lucky. My Mental Health Professional took an interest in my situation and wouldn’t allow Greenwich Council Housing Department to cause me any more damage, mentally or physically. It was ALL to do with her, how I ended up, here, in a place that is more conducive to my recovery, and not forced into a more damaging environment.
At one point, part of my plan was to make use of GLLaB. An Organisation, for which, I could, and to this day, can’t figure out what they are supposed to be doing. It is my opinion, GLLaB is the biggest money suck, and an Organisation, from which, we as Taxpayers, get ZERO VALUE FOR MONEY! It is a redundant, superfluous organisation, from which I can only surmise, exists solely to provide jobs for people who are employed within that organisation. (It reminds me of a shell set up, that is only there to squeeze money from some soft-headed dupe— US, the Taxpayers of the Burrough of Greenwich!)