The Implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017: An empirical study

2017年4月，《减少无家可归法》获得王室批准。这项雄心勃勃的立法改革从2018年4月起生效，旨在通过引入新的关税并扩大现有关税，针对无家可归者和面临无家可归威胁的人，防止和减少无家可归者。这些变化旨在促进及早干预和增加成功的预防，并应确保在较早阶段向所有符合条件的申请者提供信息和咨询以外的服务。本研究旨在从实地探索《减少无家可归者法》的实施情况。它将回答主要的研究问题：住房官员如何实施重大的立法发展？具体的兴趣领域将是：减少无家可归者法案如何与现有的住房职责相互作用？住房官员如何执行他们新的和扩大的职责？在《减少无家可归者法案》之后，住房官员如何看待他们的角色/目标？这一领域的研究具有重要意义。无家可归的人是社会上最脆弱的群体之一，他们失去了他们以前认为理所当然的东西：舒适、安全和隐私。大量无家可归者也有毒瘾、精神健康状况、残疾、机构背景，有时逃离暴力情况或遭受社会流离失所。政府已连续承诺解决无家可归者问题，但无家可归者仍在继续增加。《减少无家可归法》是在努力减少无家可归发生率和增加向无家可归者提供支助方面的最新改革。在持续紧缩的时期，这项立法脱颖而出。近年来实施了重大的立法改革，极大地改变了福利国家的环境。对“福利依赖”和“失业文化”的日益关注导致了一连串的立法改革，这些改革促进了个人主义对国家干预的增加、条件性和公民与国家关系的私有化。那些从事国家支助服务的人以福利上限和卧室税的形式减少了福利收入，以当地住房补贴上限的形式限制了住房福利，求职者现在签署了越来越严格的申领人承诺。社会部门失去有保障的终身租约，以及住房所有权的理想化，排斥了社会住房，并将依赖国家作为临时的最后手段。鉴于这些事态发展，《减少无家可归法》表面上增加了地方当局在预防和减少无家可归方面的作用和责任的新的和扩大的职责，似乎与这一趋势相矛盾，并将无家可归作为例外。因此，有必要探讨如何在这种相互冲突的环境中执行《减少无家可归法》，以及住房官员如何看待和管理他们的作用。这将通过定性方法进行，在两个地方当局住房部门进行两项人种学研究，为期约四个月。民族志是一种方法论框架，用于通过研究行为、行动、信仰和习俗来探索群体文化。它的基础是这样一种理解，即只有通过广泛融入学习社区，才能探索日常生活的现实。因此，为了探索《减少无家可归法》的实施情况，有必要花时间与住房部门接触，以便体验住房官员工作环境的现实和文化。

In April 2017 the Homelessness Reduction Act received royal assent. In force from April 2018, this ambitious piece of legislative reform is intended to prevent and reduce homelessness by introducing new duties, and expanding existing duties, towards those who are homeless and threatened with homelessness. These changes are aimed at facilitating early intervention and increasing successful prevention and should ensure that all eligible applicants are provided with services beyond information and advice, at an earlier stage. This research aims to explore the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act from the ground. It will answer the primary research question: How do housing officers implement significant legislative developments? Specific areas of interest will be:How does the Homelessness Reduction Act interact with existing housing duties?How do housing officers execute their new and expanded duties? How do housing officers perceive their roles/goals after the Homelessness Reduction Act? Research in this field is of great importance. Homeless individuals are among the most vulnerable groups in society, losing what they could previously take for granted: comfort, security, privacy. A large number of homeless people also have addictions, mental health conditions, disabilities, an institutional background, and have sometimes escaped situations of violence or suffered social displacement. Successive government pledges have been made to tackle homelessness, yet it continues to increase. The Homelessness Reduction Act represents the latest reform in attempts to reduce the incidence of homelessness and increase the support available to the homeless. In a period of continued austerity this piece of legislation stands out. Significant legislative changes have been implemented within recent years which materially alter the environment of the welfare state. A growing concern for 'welfare dependency' and a 'culture of worklessness' has led to successive legislative changes which promote an increase in individualism over state intervention, conditionality, and the increased privatisation of the citizens relationship with the state. Those engaging with state support services have experienced reductions in welfare receipt in the form of the benefit cap and the bedroom tax, restrictions on housing benefit in the form of the local housing allowance cap, and job-seekers now sign increasingly restrictive claimant commitments. The loss of secure lifetime tenancies in the social sector and the idealisation of home ownership has ostracised social housing and presents reliance on the state as a temporary last resort. Given these developments, the Homelessness Reduction Act on its face, with its new and expanded duties on local authorities to increase their role and responsibility in preventing and reducing homelessness, seems to contradict this trend and presents homelessness as an exception. It is therefore necessary to explore how the Homelessness Reduction Act is implemented within this conflicting climate and how housing officers perceive and manage their role. This is to be done through a qualitative methodology, conducting two ethnographic studies in two local authority housing departments for a period of approximately four months. Ethnography is a methodological framework which is utilised to explore group culture through the researching of behaviours, actions, beliefs and customs. It is based on the understanding that only through extended integration into the community of study can the reality of everyday lives be explored. Therefore, in order to explore the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, it is necessary to spend time with housing departments so the reality and culture of a housing officers work environment can be experienced.