On 28 October 2016, the Homelessness Reduction Bill passed its Second Reading of the House of Commons with MPs from all parties speaking in support and also with the support of the Government. This means it has a very real chance of becoming law if support continues to rally behind it. Early in t2017 (probably 13 January 2017) the Bill will reach its Report Stage; at this point unless there are 100 MPs to attend the Report Stage debate and support the Bill, there is still a risk it could be dropped and a once in a generation opportunity lost.
It is therefore vital that the current momentum is not lost. To this end, we are encouraging members and service users to contact their local MP to ask them to actively back the Bill at Report Stage. Please download the draft letter below, which can be adapted and used for that purpose.
If you have any questions about this or anything to do with the Homelessness Reduction Bill, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Template Letter
Dear
I am writing to you [you can insert your role at a local charity or say you are a local constituent here] to ask you to attend the Report stage of the Homelessness Reduction Bill, likely to take place on Friday 13 January 2017.
The Bill introduces important duties that would ensure greater support for single people and childless couples who are homeless. Currently this group can struggle to access any support, as they are not identified as being in ‘priority need’ under existing legislation. As well as addressing this, the Bill also introduces a duty for local authorities to take action to prevent homelessness. This is an important cultural shift which constitutes the biggest change to homelessness legislation in a generation.
[You may wish to highlight the problems here that single homeless people face in getting help on the grounds that they are not in “priority need”]
Although the Bill has strong cross-party support, as a private member’s bill it is still in a precarious position. Unless 100 MPs are in Westminster to support it at the Report stage, it could be defeated by just one opponent. I hope you will consider attending and lending your support to this critical piece of legislation.
I look forward to hearing from you about whether you plan to attend this important debate.
Yours sincerely
