Category Archives: Homelessness

25 Twitter accounts to follow in 2014 on welfare reform – numbers 11-25

We’ve compiled a list of 25 useful Twitter accounts if you want to follow welfare reform. Yesterday we revealed the first 10 – here are the other 15…

11.Samuel Miller @Hephaestus7

Disability specialist Samuel Miller is taking the government to court in The Hague over possible crimes to humanity.

12. Real Life Reform @RealLifeReform

This northern housing consortium is running an eighteen month study tracking how people are living and coping with welfare reform across the north of England from April 2013 to October 2014. Real Life Reform are bringing together case studies of social housing tenants to capture not only the financial but also the human impact. Continue reading 25 Twitter accounts to follow in 2014 on welfare reform – numbers 11-25

15 York Twitter accounts to follow in 2014 on mental health and joblessness

Neil Johnston and Fiona Parker, freelance journalists and final year students in York, have put together a list of Twitter accounts to follow for anyone interested in welfare issues in the area. You can also follow the list here.

1. david3012 @david3012

Director of Development at @TheRetreatYork , sci-fi geek, motorhome owner and lover of all things Dutch – hows that for a combination!

2. The Retreat @TheRetreatYork

Charity Providing Specialist Mental Health Care Since 1792: For People, Not For Profit Continue reading 15 York Twitter accounts to follow in 2014 on mental health and joblessness

Useful links to Sept 16th: reassess mental illness; axe bedroom tax; the new poor; CPAG update

These are some welfare links we found interesting during the second week of September.

What were Ian Duncan Smith’s ‘welfare reforms’ really about?. Guardian, Sue Marsh, spokeswoman and author of Diary of a Benefit Scrounger says the reforms are frightening the most vulnerable.

Hard evidence: are migrants draining the welfare system?. The Conversation. The evidence is to the contrary.

Patrick Kennedy: ‘Speak up’ for mental illness. Politico, A call to reassess mental injuries caused in military combat.

UN housing expert’s call to axe bedroom tax ‘a disgrace’ – senior Tory. Guardian, Bedroom tax. Conservative party chairman, Grant Shapps takes issue with the UN special rapporteur’s views of the bedroom tax.

Ed Milliband to pledge crackdown on zero-contracts . BBC. In his address to the TUC, Ed Milliband will set out plans to tackle the spread of zero-hour contracts.

Child Poverty Action Group update: The reality of striving and surviving on benefits. Video with single parent, A Girl called Jack.

Europe could have up to 25 million ‘new poor’ if austerity drags on .Oxfam. The report states that damage caused by austerity measures will take at least two decades to reverse.

Useful links to August 30th: living costs crisis; intern death; DWP zero hours; modern workers

These are some welfare links we found interesting during the second two weeks of August.

Useful links for July: Universal credits; food banks; austerity blogs

These are the welfare links we have been looking at in July and with May and June’s round-up recently covered, they are now almost up to date.

Keep your fingers on the keyboard to let us know if and how you use the data, or how we can improve by using the comment form below.

Useful links for June: bedroom tax; zero hour contracts; food poverty.

There are three round-up pieces over a few days, of news and data source items on welfare related issues. They are to bridge the gap of the last few months before these news stops become a regular post.

Keep your fingers hovering over the comment form below as we would really like to find out how you use the data links and what areas you want included.

Useful links for May: child poverty; risk of night shelter closure; food banks struggle to cope

Here and over the next couple of days is a round-up of news items and data sources, bridging the gap of the last few months on welfare related issues. This will become a regular post.

Keep your fingers on the keyboard to let us know if and how you use the data, or how we can improve by using the comment form below.

Illegal use of B&Bs to house homeless families – how to investigate your local figures (and learn some useful data techniques too)

The Guardian’s Randeep Ramesh reports today on the use of bed and breakfasts to house families beyond the legal time limit of six weeks.

The national picture is that half of the 242 authorities who responded had placed homeless families in private accommodation for more than 6 weeks since April 2010. But what’s your local picture?

A good first stop is your local authority’s expenditure above £500. To find this, try a search like ‘expenditure 500 site:bolton.gov.uk‘ – but replace the last bit with your own local authority’s website (excluding the www.).

Download it and open in Excel or Google Docs (if you need to convert it from PDF try pdftoexcelonline.com). Now it’s time to filter… Continue reading Illegal use of B&Bs to house homeless families – how to investigate your local figures (and learn some useful data techniques too)

The making of an investigative documentary – Part I

Kristina Khoo, the journalist behind the investigative documentary on the realities of rough sleepers in London on this site, spent four months gathering information and talking to the homeless and other very vulnerable people in hostels and on the streets. In part one of this post, Kristina shares with HMI Welfare the practical steps involved in making such a documentary, which may help others working on  similar investigations.

Kristina has an MA in International Journalism from Brunel University and is currently available for work. You can contact her on Twitter (@KristinaKhoo) or by leaving a comment here.

Making a an investigative documentary – Part I: Practical steps Continue reading The making of an investigative documentary – Part I

No rough sleeping by 2012? The reality of homelessness (video)


Less than 300 days left till the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The clock is ticking, but not only for the international sport event. Rough sleeping should also have its days counted – in theory.

In November 2008 the British government launched a £200m strategy to end homelssness in London by 2012, including a more “compassionate” approach towards rough sleepers. Three years on, how close are we to achieving that goal, and is there enough compassion in the way the homeless are being treated?

Kristina Khoo, a journalist with an MA in International Journalism from Brunel University, has produced an investigative documentary (video below) looking into the government’s pledge to eliminate homelessness and the scepticism surrounding it.

Her investigation gives voice to grassroots charities and rough sleepers, who are not normally included into the government’s strategy. The documentary follows the journey of Mohammad, who has been rough sleeping on London buses for the past 10 years, and reveals some of the crude tactics employed to get the homeless off the streets.

According to the latest figures from the Rough Sleeping Statistics England:

  • In autumn 2010, rough sleeping counts and estimates in England was 1,768.
  • London, the South East and the South West had the highest number of rough sleepers with 415, 310 and 270 respectively. The North East had the lowest number with 49.

If you are interested in launching an investigation about housing and homelessness issues too, or if you already have done some work on these topics, do get in touch. We are recruiting collaborators.