Homeless man’s call to helpline takes over an hour – as experts say govt’s target to end rough sleeping ‘will fail’
Ian’s face is grimy, his hair matted. A cigarette butt picked from a dustbin hangs from his fingers.
He calls out from the pavement asking: “Can you spare any change please?”
Yet, somehow, he is invisible.
People walk on by and in a moment, he is forgotten. It seems too that the government target to end rough sleeping by 2024, has vanished and is too forgotten.
A report today by the Kerslake Commission says the opposite is happening, rough sleeping is on the rise, up 26% on last year. It says clearly: “The government won’t meet its target.”
The panel says this is because “unresolved systemic issues have left the country exposed to rising homelessness”.
It calls for “urgent action to address the rapidly rising rates of homelessness and rough sleeping”.
The study says much of the problems stem from a severe shortage of affordable housing and a lack of appropriate support services. This combined with the cost of living crisis is pushing more people into homelessness.
Ian Harrison struggles with mental health issues and drug addiction. Pic: Andy Portch
From a hostel to Hammersmith flyover
Sky News has followed Ian Harrison’s progress since the pandemic when he was living in a hostel. Now he is back out on the streets surviving in make-shift homes using palettes and cardboard boxes constructed under the Hammersmith Flyover in west London.
Like many rough sleepers across the country, the 33-year-old is struggling with a range of issues, such as mental health problems and drug addiction that have been exacerbated by street life.
He has tried and failed to change his fortunes. In the spring of this year, he managed to get a job at McDonald’s in Skegness and held it for three months before falling out of employment and getting a ticket back to London.
For those four months he says he was clean from the drugs, but being back on the streets means he is also back on heroin and crack.
He says: “It’s pointless trying to stay away from it when you are on the streets – you know it’s on the streets. It’s a part of street life.”
Ian scores some crack cocaine from a dealer and smokes it during the time Sky News is with him. Asked what would get him off it, he says: “Getting in somewhere – meeting the right people. I want to get a job and stuff. I just want a job and a normal life but it’s hard to get.”
For four months, Ian was clean and off the streets. Pic: Andy Portch
A revolving door existence
Ian’s mental health problems and chaotic lifestyle stem from childhood trauma, which if addressed earlier may have transformed his life and saved the taxpayer the cost of his revolving door existence between mental health inpatient services and life on the streets.
During COVID, the “Everyone In” policy rapidly reduced the number of rough sleepers, and the Kerslake Commission was set up to learn the lessons. It suggests three main strategies to end rough sleeping.
Firstly, preventing people from getting to the brink of homelessness. Secondly, ensuring no one needs to arrive on the streets to get help, and thirdly that everyone should have a route out of rough sleeping.
The commission is “urgently calling on the government to increase housing benefit so that it covers local affordable rents”.
During Sky’s time with Ian, we called StreetLink which is a helpline run by St Mungos for rough sleepers or concerned members of the public. The service is designed to connect homeless people with local services and accommodation.
However, Ian warned that we wouldn’t be able to speak to anyone and it turned out we were on hold for over an hour before an operator replied – something you wouldn’t expect a homeless person with limited phone credit to be able to hold on for.
Ian was later put in touch with an outreach worker, but weeks later remained on the streets.
His chaotic lifestyle stems from childhood trauma. Pic: Andy Portch
A chronic shortage of housing
StreetLink says: “Since its launch in 2012, StreetLink has successfully managed over 500,000 alerts, connecting thousands of people with the support and accommodation they need to end their rough sleeping.
“The team works hard under tight resources to make sure every alert and contact with the public is managed efficiently and sensitively to ensure that people who are sleeping rough receive swift support.”
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St Mungo’s Chief Executive, Emma Haddad, who was on the panel of the Kerslake report, said of its findings: “The chronic shortage of affordable housing and appropriate support services means we are just responding to people already in crisis rather than preventing them from reaching that point in the first place.
“The recommendations give a clear set of actions to both the current government and the next administration that would make a big difference to tackling rough sleeping and homelessness.
“We made so much progress on rough sleeping during the pandemic, which clearly demonstrated what can be done when we work together with a shared purpose and dedicated funding. It’s time we applied the same energy to stop this homelessness and rough sleeping crisis spiralling further.”
Ian’s makeshift home is under the Hammersmith Flyover in west London. Pic: Andy Portch
Bob Kerslake died in July 2023 and the report is a tribute to him and his life’s work.
The Kerslake family said: “After over 40 years as a public servant, many of which were spent on delivering quality homes and environments, Bob was saddened and dismayed by the rise of homelessness across our country. He was proud to chair the commission and totally committed to its findings. He would have been vociferous in publishing its conclusions and recommendations.”
What the government says
A spokesman for the department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it remained focused on ending rough sleeping: “[We] are spending £2bn to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in the areas that need it most.
“We are making significant progress with over 640,000 households prevented from becoming homeless or supported into settled accommodation since 2018.
“We would like to pay tribute to Lord Bob Kerslake for his life’s work on this issue and we will continue to work with the commission to end rough sleeping for good.”
Negotiations to reset the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU are going “to the wire”, a Cabinet Office minister has said.
“There is no final deal as yet. We are in the very final hours,” the UK’s lead negotiator Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
On the possibility of a youth mobility scheme with the EU, he insisted “nothing is agreed until everything is”.
“We would be open to a smart, controlled youth mobility scheme,” he said. “But I should set out, we will not return to freedom of movement.”
Politics latest: PM outlines ‘benefits’ for UK from closer EU ties
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday.
Put to the minister that the government could not guarantee there will be a deal by tomorrow afternoon, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “Nobody can guarantee anything when you have two parties in a negotiation.”
But the minister said he remained “confident” a deal could be reached “that makes our borders more secure, is good for jobs and growth, and brings people’s household bills down”.
“That is what is in our national interest and that’s what we will continue to do over these final hours,” he said.
“We have certainly been taking what I have called a ruthlessly pragmatic approach.”
On agricultural products, food and drink, Mr Thomas-Symonds said supermarkets were crying out for a deal because the status quo “isn’t working”, with “lorries stuck for 16 hours and food rotting” and producers and farmers unable to export goods because of the amount of “red tape”.
Asked how much people could expect to save on shopping as a result of the deal the government was hoping to negotiate, the minister was unable to give a figure.
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On the issue of fishing, asked if a deal would mean allowing French boats into British waters, the minister said the Brexit deal which reduced EU fishing in UK waters by a quarter over five years comes to an end next year.
He said the objectives now included “an overall deal in the interest of our fishers, easier access to markets to sell our fish and looking after our oceans”.
Turning to borders, the minister was asked if people would be able to move through queues at airports faster.
Again, he could not give a definitive answer, but said it was “certainly something we have been pushing with the EU… we want British people who are going on holiday to be able to go and enjoy their holiday, and not be stuck in queues”.
PM opens door to EU youth mobility scheme
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK on an agreement to facilitate youth mobility between the EU and the UK. The scheme would allow both UK and EU citizens aged between 18 and 30 years old to stay for up to four years in a country of their choosing.
Earlier this month, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Phillips a youth mobility scheme was not the approach the government wanted to take to bring net migration down.
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Lack of UK training ‘big driver of net migration’
When this was put to him, Mr Thomas-Symonds insisted any deal on a youth mobility scheme with Europe will have to be “smart” and “controlled” and will be “consistent” with the government’s immigration policy.
Asked what the government had got in return for a youth mobility scheme – now there had been a change in approach – the minister said: “It is about an overall balanced package that works for Britain. The government is 100% behind the objective of getting net migration down.”
Phillips said more than a million young people came to the country between 2004 and 2015. “If there isn’t a cap – that’s what we are talking about,” he said.
The minister insisted such a scheme would be “controlled” – but refused to say whether there would be a cap.
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‘It’s going to be a bad deal’
Shadow cabinet office minister Alex Burghart told Phillips an uncapped youth mobility scheme with the EU would lead to “much higher immigration”, adding: “It sounds very much as though it’s going to be a bad deal.”
Asked if the Conservatives would scrap any EU deal, he said: “It depends what the deal is, Trevor. And we still, even at this late stage, we don’t know.
“The government can’t tell us whether everyone will be able to come. They can’t tell us how old the young person is. They can’t tell us what benefits they would get.
“So I think when people hear about a youth mobility scheme, they think about an 18-year-old coming over working at a bar. But actually we may well be looking at a scheme which allows 30-year-olds to come over and have access to the NHS on day one, to claim benefits on day one, to bring their extended families.”
He added: “So there are obviously very considerable disadvantages to the UK if this deal is done in the wrong way.”
Jose Manuel Barroso, former EU Commission president, told Phillips it “makes sense” for a stronger relationship to exist between the European Union and the UK, adding: “We are stronger together.”
He said he understood fishing and youth mobility are the key sticking points for a UK-EU deal.
“Frankly, what is at stake… is much more important than those specific issues,” he said.
Gary Lineker is to leave the BBC after this season’s final Match Of The Day and will no longer present its coverage of the World Cup, Sky News understands.
It comes after he “apologised unreservedly” for a social media repost featuring a rat – used in propaganda by Nazi Germany to dehumanise Jewish people – and said he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic”.
Lineker’s last appearance on the BBC will be on 25 May, the final day of the season, with confirmation expected on Monday.
The former England star announced in November he would step down from Match Of The Day this year, but was set to return to front the World Cup in 2026, as well as FA Cup coverage.
Lineker, 64, said he was unaware the post he shared was antisemitic and it went against “everything I believe in”.
In response to the presenter resharing the post, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said his “continued association with the BBC is untenable”.
And when asked about Lineker last week, BBC director general Tim Davie said: “When someone makes a mistake, it costs the BBC reputationally.”
The presenter was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then Conservative government’s asylum policy.
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Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years. He also has a successful podcast production company.
Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will share the role of presenting Match of the Day. Pic BBC/PA
Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan will take over the highlights show from next season.
When the trio take over as hosts, it will be the first time the role has been shared by three people.
Sky News has contacted the BBC for comment.
A teenager has been arrested after a 16-year-old boy died following reports of a “disturbance” at a beach in Ayrshire.
Kayden Moy was found seriously injured by officers at Irvine Beach at around 6.45pm on Saturday.
The teenager, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, was taken to hospital but died in the early hours.
Police Scotland said on Sunday evening that a 17-year-old boy had been arrested and enquires were continuing.
Officers believe the incident may have been filmed and have urged witnesses and anyone with information to come forward.
Kayden. Pic: Facebook
The incident happened at Irvine Beach in Ayrshire, Scotland. File pic: iStock
Detective Chief Inspector Campbell Jackson said: “An extensive investigation is under way to establish the full circumstances surrounding this death.
“Our officers are supporting the boy’s family at this very difficult and heartbreaking time.
“From our investigation so far, we know there were a number of people on the beach around the time of the disturbance.
“We believe several of them were filming at the time and may have footage of what happened.
“I would urge people to review the footage they have and contact police if they think the footage captured could be of significance to our investigation.”
This can be submitted anonymously, the force said.
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Superintendent Jim McMillan added: “We understand this death will be of great concern for the local community, but please be assured that we are doing everything we can to identify those involved.
“There will be additional patrols in the area as we carry out our enquiries and anyone with any concerns can approach these officers.”
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