New good practice guide recognises St Mungo's work

15 July 2010

St Mungo's welcomed the publication today of a new good practice guide that seeks to more effectively help rough sleepers with poor mental health.

The guide uses St Mungo's Lifeworks project as a case study and cites last year's research report 'Down and Out?'

It was launched by Housing Minister Grant Shapps as he announced new rough sleeping figures for England.

In total, 70 councils conducted street counts and reported that there were 440 rough sleepers in England on any given night. In comparison, in 2009, 76 councils conducted street counts and recorded 464 rough sleepers.

The Minister is sceptical of the methodology behind the street counts, however - only councils considered to have a problem with rough sleeping have been required to conduct a count - and will shortly consult on plans for a complete overhaul on the means of counting rough sleepers.

Charles Fraser, Chief Executive of St Mungo's, said: "We welcome any changes that enable the most accurate count of those rough sleeping across the country, in London and beyond. Rough sleeping is completely unacceptable in modern Britain.

"In particular no-one with a mental health problem should be left sleeping rough. We are very pleased therefore that some of our innovative work at St Mungo's is cited in this new good practice guide.

"As a charity with street outreach services in Westminster, Southwark, Ealing, Reading and Bristol, we counted as we were asked to and it is good to see that, under the current snapshot methodology, numbers have continued to come down.

"However, it's very important to get a big picture perspective. Next week the annual rough sleeping figures for London are set to be published. These will indicate more about the needs of the individuals on the streets, the work that's been done to help both new rough sleepers quickly and also support long term rough sleepers off the streets, and the trends around those of different nationalities with no state access to support. The most vulnerable of this last group face complete destitution, which makes it even more imperative that we get a true picture of who and how many people are rough sleeping, and that local authorities continue to take responsibility for the individuals in their area. We'll be contributing our ideas to the consultation as soon as we can."

From St Mungo's 2009 client survey:

  • 69% of clients had mental health issues (diagnosed, suspected, depression and/or self harming)
  • 56% had slept rough

ENDS

  • For more information, contact Judith Higgin, media manager, St Mungo's, on 020 8762 5645 or email: judith.higgin@mungos.org
  • The Mental Health Good Practice Guide is a joint publication by Communities and Local Government, the Department of Health and the National Mental Health Development Unit. It is aimed at doctors, health workers, probation staff and other frontline workers who help homeless people. It can be found at: www.nmhdu.org.uk/complextrauma
  • Read more information about St Mungo's work, our 2009 callf for evidence and research around mental health and homelessness
  • For more information on the rough sleeping figures for England, see the Communities and Local Government website

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