Councils promise a working group by Easter
WESTMINSTER, England – Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged that veterans sleeping rough will be offered accommodation before Christmas, challenging Britain’s local authorities to demonstrate that housing a former soldier can be accomplished without first establishing twelve committees.
According to ITV News, Burnham intends to write to councils urging them to prepare plans to help veterans off the streets. The government has also announced £8.7 million for organisations providing housing and specialist support.
The announcement raises a fundamental question. How has Britain developed a system capable of sending people halfway around the world in military aircraft but occasionally incapable of finding them a bedroom after they return?
Money is not the only missing piece. Earlier government announcements on grants for specialist care for homeless veterans and on veteran-specific supported housing have already established that the country can announce things at an all-time high. The difficulty is the stretch between the announcement and the front door.
Veterans Discover the Administrative Battlefield
A former infantryman, Corporal Arthur Briggs, described attempting to navigate a housing application.
“In the Army, they taught us to work under pressure, assess danger and make decisions with incomplete information,” he explained.
“That was excellent preparation for speaking to the council.”
Briggs said he had once completed an operational deployment using fewer forms than his local housing department required to establish his address.
“The difficulty was proving I didn’t have one,” he said.
“The woman asked for a recent utility bill. I told her I was sleeping outdoors. She asked whether I could provide proof of the outdoors.”
Briggs considered requesting military assistance. Unfortunately, he was advised that the Army’s operational responsibilities did not extend to defeating automated telephone menus.
The housing application form he was handed, seen by this newspaper, lists “Current address” as a required field. In the guidance notes beneath it, “None” is not accepted as a valid response. Anyone looking for what rights ex-service personnel actually have can consult the Citizens Advice guide to housing options for veterans and Shelter’s advice on where veterans can get help, both of which are available without a utility bill.
Councils Examine Possibility of Actual Housing
Local officials have welcomed the government’s ambition while expressing concerns about budgets, available accommodation and the coordination required.
A proposed planning meeting opened with a discussion of how to define emergency housing. One consultant suggested that emergency housing should be accommodation provided during an emergency. The council congratulated him on his expertise and requested an invoice.
Another participant proposed creating a digital dashboard showing how many veterans required housing. A third suggested placing the dashboard in every council office.
Nobody initially proposed placing the veterans indoors. That idea arrived under Any Other Business.
A response to a Freedom of Information request, passed to this newspaper by a campaigner, asked one authority how many veterans it had housed in the last quarter and how many working groups it had formed over the same period. The council said it held no figure for the first. For the second it supplied a list of eleven, with a note that two of them had been formed to review the other nine.
Christmas Creates Unexpected Deadline
The prime minister’s commitment has given local authorities a concrete target. Officials accustomed to long-term strategies must now confront the unfamiliar possibility that something important could be completed before another financial year begins.
Housing charities have stressed that accommodation should be accompanied by appropriate support, including help with mental health, employment, benefits and longer-term stability. Veterans can face complex difficulties, and an emergency bed is not the same as a permanent home. The Armed Forces Covenant already commits the country to treating those who served fairly, which is the sort of promise that looks tremendous on a poster.
Nevertheless, getting people off the streets is an essential first step. Burnham’s pledge has therefore created a test that cannot easily be measured by the number of meetings attended.
Either veterans receive offers of accommodation or they do not.
A retired sergeant from Lancashire suggested a practical approach.
“Give somebody responsibility, provide the resources and tell them what needs doing,” he explained.
Asked whether this approach had a name, he replied, “Leadership.”
The room fell silent. Several officials requested further consultation.
For veterans seeking accommodation, the UK-wide Op Fortitude helpline is 0800 952 0774, providing access to specialist housing assistance, and more detail is on the Riverside Op Fortitude page. Veterans’ Gateway, the first point of contact for ex-service personnel and their families, is on 0808 802 1212.
Britain already knows how to organise difficult missions. Its latest challenge is remembering that the objective matters more than the briefing.
The London Prat’s Christmas wish: Every veteran indoors, every unnecessary committee permanently stationed outside.
Five Observations on Homeless Veterans and the Council Queue
- “Could you provide proof of the outdoors?” Madam, it’s all around you. It’s the outdoors. It’s the one thing he’s got plenty of.
- He did a tour with fewer forms than the council wanted to confirm where he lives. Where he lives is the problem. That’s the whole reason he’s at the counter. It’s like asking a man in a lifeboat for his boarding pass.
- A consultant defined emergency housing as “housing provided during an emergency” and they asked for an invoice. That’s the most expensive tautology since “it is what it is”, and at least that one’s free.
- A dashboard in every council office showing how many veterans need housing. They can see the problem in high definition. They just can’t see a door.
- The sergeant said “Leadership” and the whole room went quiet. It’s the only word in English that can’t be minuted.
This is satire aimed squarely at the paperwork, never at the veterans. The Op Fortitude helpline above is real and answers faster than any working group. For the rest of our political satire, a sub-committee has been convened.
Oeko Angebot ([email protected])
House the veterans by Christmas; councils promise a working group by Easter. That is the full liturgical calendar of British urgency. Burnham writes letters, committees invent subcommittees, and a former soldier waits for housing like it’s a parcel from Royal Mail. If goodwill were a tenancy, we’d have solved this in 2004.