TO London councils, “decanting” some of their homeless people to houses more than 250 miles away in County Durham is probably a cost-effective solution to a problem they have to solve.
The rents they pay to the private Durham landlords will be tiny compared to the cost of a flat in the inner city.
Yet this policy could have detrimental effects on the people being decanted, and on the communities into which they are being decanted.
Firstly, it appears that the underlying issues which made people homeless in the first place – be they mental health or substance abuse ¬– have not been addressed, and they arrive here without any support network, and whatever network they had in London is a very expensive train ride away.
While this movement might reduce the homeless statistics in London, it doesn’t do the homeless people themselves much good unless they have assistance programmes in place around them.
Secondly, their arrival places strain on the services of Durham – for instance, it has become extremely difficult for established people to see a dentist and yet here are more people competing for those over-stretched services.
Thirdly, these receptor communities are trying to drag themselves up. They need helping hands, not more hands in need of help.
After the unrest of the summer, there is still a febrile atmosphere in Britain, and the last thing we need is a hue and cry against the new arrivals. Indeed, we hope they find a welcome here and they can enjoy Durham’s better quality of life.
It is the organisations which are doing the decanting who need to be asking themselves if they are doing this for the right reasons for all the people involved and not just to clear up their stubborn statistics.
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