Quote Originally Posted by blue matt View Post
Of course it wasnt racist

He was describing himself, he was at the time a single white male
No he didn't. You have said twice now that he was just describing himself - when he was telling us how the Council described him.

If that is right - that the Council implied his skin colour was a factor in their decision, then that is illegal and outrageous. However, I suspect the intention was (as you said) to give a self-description, not an account of what a member of the Council staff said. In which case skin colour or ethnicity may be important to pjv1990 but is as irrelevant to the decision as blood group!

I don't know how far a local Council can go to help someone who is homeless but not in priority need. They have to follow the law but they are very limited in their ability to provide temporary housing for anyone who presents to them. Councils have very limited resources, very limited temporary accommodation of their own, limited access to housing association or private rented housing that can be accessed at very short notice, loads of competing demands. As far back as I can remember (to the late 1980s) Councils have done very little more than provide advice and support to single homeless people who are not vulnerable or otherwise in priority need. They mainly give out lists of addresses and phone numbers of private landlords.... which is a rubbish response for the fifth richest country on earth.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/homeless...ss-legislation

I don't remember there ever being a major distinction in assessments between men and women who turn up as homeless who are not in priority need. Is that right? A woman with children or pregnant - yes - but otherwise that is new to me.

If Councils are channelling scarce resources into vanity projects while local people are on the streets that is totally wrong - provided the money can be switched. The main target with this though is the UK government. They decide the legal framework and they ultimately allocate the resources (even if devolved governments and local Councils can make some changes to priorities). At the start of the Covid crisis they claimed to have got all rough sleepers into a bed with a roof - even if they're not all there now - so it can be done.