Digital help for the homeless
Changes to benefits mean only people with access to computers will be able to apply, but one council has a solution for those on the streets, writes JODY HARRISON
is a high-tech solution to an age-old problem, yet a simple way to help those who cannot help themselves.
In two months, the new Universal Credit will roll-out across Scotland’s largest city, sweeping away a host of old benefits and amalgamating them into one.
But to access the new payment, recipients have to be able to go online and have a bank account where the money will be deposited, and this could mean those who need it most are frozen out of the system.
People begging in the street who may be without access to the online world, along with the homeless and those living “chaotic lifestyles” where bank accounts are a luxury, face an uphill struggle and could be left without any way to access cash they desperately rely on.
Now Glasgow’s local authority has decided that if the most vulnerable can’t go online, then it will bring the internet to them.
A new digital inclusion officer is to be employed to walk the streets with a tablet computer, helping beggars and rough sleepers navigate the online world and claim the benefits they are entitled to.
In a bid to combat the often “complicated and confusing” welfare system, the officer will help them fill in forms where they are without having to bring them to an office or library where desktop computers can be found.
As well as helping people claim benefits, the officer will also assist people to get the identification required to set up bank accounts where their Universal Credit can be paid, ensuring they can access their money when it is needed.
The move is part of the council’s strategy on begging, which will see a new city centre hub offering help and support to homeless people set up in early 2019.
This building will give people a postal address if they need it and also help and support.
Councillor Allan Casey, the chairman of Glasgow’s city centre begging strategy group, said: “The benefits system can be complicated and confusing – especially if you have a chaotic lifestyle and no access to technology or broadband.
“The application process can be daunting, but this new digital inclusion post will take financial and digital support directly to the most vulnerable to help ensure no-one is missing out on the benefits they are entitled to.”
According to the latest figures from the Scottish Government, Glasgow had the highest number of applications for homeless status in the country between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018.
Almost 10 per cent of all such applications – around 3,150 – were made in the city during this period, which also recorded the first rise in homelessness for nearly a decade.
Overall, there were just under 35,000 people who identified as homeless in Scotland during this period, following an eight-year decline from a peak of 57,672 in 2008-2009.
The digital inclusion officer will work alongside the Simon Community homelessness street team.
The charity operates between 8am and 11pm on the streets of Glasgow, speaking to those begging in doorways and rough sleepers to offer them support and to check on their welfare.
It has identified and monitors more than 80 “skipper” sites where people are known to sleep on the streets, and also works at drop-in centres, soup kitchens and other places where the destitute can be found.
Robin Wallace, assistant director of Simon Community Scotland, said: “This type of assistance is exceptionally important for people living on the margins of society.
“It will ensure people who need help the most receive it.
“Our experience within the street team recognises that people can spend a large amount of time engaged in street begging, and less time engaging in support and connecting with staff and services, therefore it is imperative that we take this service to them.
“We will fund identification for those who need it to open bank accounts and help them apply for benefits. At the same time, we’ll encourage people to access other services on offer to help them improve their lives and their health.”
He added: “Working in partnership with our street team, the new digital inclusion officer will provide support which could be instrumental in getting their lives back on track and finding routes out of poverty.”
The city hub being created to help Glasgow’s homeless is due to open next year. It will house a range of services for vulnerable adults with multiple complex needs, and has been set up with advice from people with personal experience of life on the streets.
Plans for the hub include a treatment room offering triage services, an office, a quiet area and a kitchen. Pets will also be welcome at the centre which is expected to open at the end of this year.
Councillor Mhairi Hunter, chairwoman of the council’s joint integration board, said: “Many homeless people gravitate to the city centre and the hub will be somewhere safe and warm where they can get urgent assistance quickly, and directed to services which can help them with non-urgent health care, food, showers, clothing and accommodation.”
It will ensure people who need help the most receive it