Doubts have arisen over a landmark commitment to end street homelessness by 2012, after it emerged that the government will no longer publish a national estimate of the number of people sleeping rough. Opposition MPs have criticised ministers for undermining their own policy.
Housing minister Margaret Beckett declared yesterday that “rough sleeping in 21st Century Britain is unacceptable” as she launched a new plan to solve the problem in time for the Olympics. The commitment to end street homelessness in England “for good” could mark a landmark in social policy. But with virtually no new resources and few new ideas, it’s hard to see how it will be achieved.
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