On 23rd August, Devon County Council will make their final decision on cutting the 18+ homelessness prevention funding. The next few weeks are critical.
Will you help us by contacting your MP or local councillors?
- FIND: Follow the links below to find your MP and local councillors
- WRITE: Paste the template copy into an email and edit to make it personal
- PRAY: Join with us in praying that your MP and local councillors will act
(We have recently been advised that the date of the final decision has been moved to 13th September.).
Your councillors provide a link between you and the council. You can be an advocate for local homeless people and keep councillors informed about the issues that affect your area.
Below are some simple steps and template copy to help you access your councillor.
- Find your local councillors on the map: https://www.devon.gov.uk/democracy/councillors-by-map/
- Email template to local councillors
Dear [name],
As a member of your ward, I am writing to ask you to take action on Devon County Council’s proposal to cut its adult homelessness prevention budget.
Devon County Council is due to make a final decision on 23 August. It is critical that we act now to avoid Devon County Council precipitating a homelessness crisis in Devon.
Through the current support package, Devon County Council contributes to YMCA Exeter just £35 per person per week for around 100 young people every year to receive high-quality, supportive care.
If YMCA Exeter is removed from providing this care, those same young adults will need to seek an Adult Social Care Package from Devon County Council which would increase the cost to the Adult Social Care budget by over £924,000.
At the Cabinet meeting on the 12 July, Cllr McInnes stated that Devon County Council could no longer afford to pay for this preventative work, however as you can see Devon County Council cannot afford to throw away preventative work, otherwise it will see its Adult Social Care costs increase exponentially.
In September 2022, Local partnerships released the report jointly owned by HM Treasury, Local Government Association and the Welsh Government making the case for investing in homelessness prevention.
High level conclusions within the report revealed that:
- Intervention is effective, both in human terms, and for the public purse.
- Relatively small amounts of council investment can lead to significant benefits for the public purse.
- Projects offering wrap-around services as well as housing support, and with a person-centred approach, can be particularly effective.
And yet, Devon County Council is proposing to cut funds to the 18+ homelessness services.
Within Devon’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2020 to 2025, ‘Healthy and Happy Communities’, the board states that their second priority is to: “Improve housing conditions, reduce homelessness, and increase supply of appropriate, high-quality housing.”
And within Devon County Council’s A Joint Strategic Approach to Supporting People to Live Independently in Devon 2020 to 2025 they specifically state that “homelessness is a significant issue in Devon, with average earnings below the national average and house prices over the national average.”
Within this report, Devon County Council states how, “Bringing together local resources has supported homeless people to recover their independence.” And how moving forward, “We need to build on this and ensure that commissioning arrangements are informed by a local understanding of why people are homeless.”
And yet instead of building on these plans, Devon County Council stands to increase their spending by removing the support services currently in place for people facing homelessness.
[Insert a personal reason about why you care about this – your connection with YMCA Exeter if you would like]
Please use your role as a local councillor to speak up on this issue and turn the decision around so that no vulnerable young people will be facing homelessness.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
[your name]
Full address and postcode
As a constituent, you have a unique opportunity to speak with your MP. Decision-makers want to speak to their constituents and want to hear what concerns you.
Below are some simple steps and template copy to help you access your MP.
- Find your MP: https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons
- Email template to MP
Dear [MP],
As a member of your constituency I am writing to ask you to take action on Devon County Council’s proposal to cut its adult homelessness prevention budget.
Devon County Council is due to make a final decision on 23 August. It is critical that we act now to avoid Devon County Council precipitating a homelessness crisis in Devon.
Through the current support package, Devon County Council contributes to YMCA Exeter just £35 per person per week for around 100 young people every year to receive high-quality, supportive care.
If YMCA Exeter is removed from providing this care, those same young adults will need to seek an Adult Social Care Package from Devon County Council which would increase the cost to the Adult Social Care budget by over £924,000.
At the Cabinet meeting on the 12 July, Cllr McInnes stated that Devon County Council could no longer afford to pay for this preventative work, however as you can see Devon County Council cannot afford to throw away preventative work, otherwise it will see its Adult Social Care costs increase exponentially.
In September 2022, Local partnerships released the report jointly owned by HM Treasury, Local Government Association and the Welsh Government making the case for investing in homelessness prevention.
High level conclusions within the report revealed that:
- Intervention is effective, both in human terms, and for the public purse.
- Relatively small amounts of council investment can lead to significant benefits for the public purse.
- Projects offering wrap-around services as well as housing support, and with a person-centred approach, can be particularly effective.
And yet, Devon County Council is proposing to cut funds to the 18+ homelessness services.
Within Devon’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2020 to 2025, ‘Healthy and Happy Communities’, the board states that their second priority is to: “Improve housing conditions, reduce homelessness, and increase supply of appropriate, high-quality housing.”
And within Devon County Council’s A Joint Strategic Approach to Supporting People to Live Independently in Devon 2020 to 2025 they specifically state that “homelessness is a significant issue in Devon, with average earnings below the national average and house prices over the national average.”
Within this report, Devon County Council states how, “Bringing together local resources has supported homeless people to recover their independence.” And how moving forward, “We need to build on this and ensure that commissioning arrangements are informed by a local understanding of why people are homeless.”
And yet instead of building on these plans, Devon County Council stands to increase their spending by removing the support services currently in place for people facing homelessness.
[Insert a personal reason about why you care about this – your connection with YMCA Exeter if you would like]
Please use your role as a local MP to speak up on this issue and turn the decision around so that no vulnerable young people will be facing homelessness.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
[your name]
Full address and postcode
Could you share this with people, and encourage them to also get in touch?