New Europeans
At the moment, new European migrants do not have a great impact on the services we provide to London's homeless. St Mungo's helps people who have often been long-term rough sleepers - people with severe and enduring mental health, physical health, and substance use problems - and the vast majority of new European migrants successfully find housing and employment. However, we are concerned about the lack of a safety net, which means that it is too easy for new European migrants to end up temporarily homeless - and then enter a vicious circle that can lead to longer-term, serious problems. In addition, programmes that we and other organisations run to help homeless people into work are currently not available (for funding reasons) to new European migrants.
But lack of knowledge about how to enter the UK employment market does not need to become a long-term homelessness problem. The solution is to provide early intervention and targeted support for those who are most 'lost', alongside clear information for all arrivals.
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