There's Been a 60 Percent Rise of Child Homelessness Under the Tories

Tonight, 114,930 children are sleeping in temporary accommodation. This number, estimated by the Department for Communities and Local Government, is a 58 percent rise on the number of children that were homeless before David Cameron took office in 2010. Just so we're clear, Tory policy has caused or allowed around40,000 more children to become homeless over the past five years.

Families with children now make up two-thirds of homelessness cases, with overall acceptance of applications of homelessness to local councils showing an 11 percent rise for the past five years. Yet, when Cameron was in power, he consistently claimed that the Tories had reduced the number of people on the streets compared to the figure under Labour. He was able to claim this only by using the high figure of 2004 as a benchmark, because, after that peak, the number of homeless people in the UK dropped significantly.

That is until 2010, when, for some reason, it began shooting right back up again year on year.

One reason might be the cuts to benefits that have been hitting low income families hardest. Another might be the lack of protection against unfeasibly high rents and shitty landlords, causing an increase in the number of people claiming the end of an assured short hold tenancy as their cause of homelessness. Another might be that, despite one in 10 homeless people being employed in paid work, a culture of zero hours contracts means that even a job isn't enough protection against homelessness any more.

Shadow housing minister John Healey has said in reaction to the statistics that "Ministers should hang their heads in shame over this homelessness crisis for children," and pointed out that, perhaps quite obviously, children becoming homeless doesn't have to be "inevitable".

He also said that "six years of housing policy failure under Conservative ministers has led directly to today's rapidly rising homelessness. You can't help the homeless if you won't build the homes, and the government has ended all funding for genuinely affordable rented housing."

Both major parties are, in theory, currently backing a new Private Members' Bill to fight against homelessness, whose second reading takes place tomorrow. Bob Blackman's Homeless Reduction Bill aims to "revolutionise" the care provided for homeless people by increasing the scope of who local councils must provide housing support and advice to. Single men and women who have no children, mental health problems or history of domestic abuse have, since 1977, been viewed as not "priority need". Under Blackman's proposals, the council would have to help people find new accommodation if they were at risk of becoming homeless in the next 56 days, regardless of how low priority they are. It isn't clear what this help must include, other than information and advice.

The original bill also included a clause stating that after someone becomes homeless the council would have to provide them with 56 days of temporary accommodation. Lobbying from the Local Government Association got this section removed, because, they claimed, "it would not work" and would be too costly for a system overburdened by demand for housing. Many councils are already having to rely on putting families up in B&Bs for unlawful lengths of time. The bill now only states that councils must "take steps to relieve" the homelessness of anyone who has not been helped by the council in the 56 days leading up to their eviction.

Another correction to the scope of the Bill after consultation with local council representatives is the reduction of the minimum length of a tenancy secured under the relief duty, from a year to six months. This has apparently been introduced "to better reflect current market conditions in some parts of the country".

The bill has the full support of homeless charities Crisis, and the government has pledged £40 million over the next three years to help accommodate the changes. But because it is a Private Members' Bill, the government's backing doesn't require any actual whipping of MPs, so there is no guarantee that enough of them will even show up to vote it through.

Shelter has said of the Bill that "an extension of the law is welcome, but by itself will not be enough to deliver real change to the many thousands of people currently fighting to keep a roof over their head. If we are truly serious about tackling homelessness, this has to go hand-in-hand with government providing more desperately needed frontline resources for hard-pressed councils, and we need a decisive long-term commitment to build homes that people on lower incomes can actually afford. It's only by doing this that we will truly be able to put an end to homelessness for good."

So in the end, slightly more inclusive emergency relief is only a sticking plaster on a growing crisis in homelessness. £40 million and hazy support of this Bill is nothing compared to what is required to address the housing crisis that is forcing thousands of men, women and children out of their homes.

More on VICE:

For Homeless Women, Having a Period Isn't a Hassle – It's a Nightmare

Exclusive: Neo-Nazis Are Using a White-Only Homeless Charity to Spread Race Hate

I Am One of Britain's Hidden Homeless