Is it a conversation?

I've spent today finding out.

In one day this is how far I've gotten and the other things I have been up to.

7am googled rbc homeless strategy. A load of "stuff" pops up all of it suggests it is paid for through combined Borough/3rd sector/HRA will come back to this later need to get the kids off to school. On the walk to school at 8:15 I listened to this ted talk on the subject then stood in the playground like one of those disengaged mothers reading the actual homeless strategy Richard Davies was the lead Councillor responsible for delivery at the time of publication. Considerable consultation went into this document although I get distracted by the graph on page 7 that details market rent and affordable rent against the local housing allowance. Reading isn't really affordable is it? New cuts are coming with universal credit, more people will be homeless in the new year.

In between all this I have done some work, you know the stuff that pays my bills. So I am checking over the paperwork and adding up and my eyes are getting crossed so I decide to go in town and look at stuff the housing pathway have on display in the town centre.

Social housing is the best solution and one that was identified by the council quite some time ago The firm foundations strategy can be found here in it you find references to all kinds of documents. At the time when this was written Debs Edwards was the lead Councillor. Since then we have had Rachel Eden, Richard Davies and now John Ennis. Page 19 on has some good info to get your head around the different terms that people use in planning and strategy for housing.

Two other major problems are faced by the lead Councillors are the forcible reduction in rental income to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the new Housing and Planning act. The reduction in rent was an idea proposed to George Osbourne by the Policy Exchange and primarily Alex Morton. There is some recollection in my head about him working for the chancellor at some point so this is a jobs for the boys thing. The housing and planning act became a bit of a football that got kicked around the Lords and back. This is the point where I begrudgingly admit their worth. This is the briefing from HoC library that I skimmed on the bus on the way in to town. It was clearly too much to read but if you want to know more hit up our good comrade Micky Leng for a lively debate on the topic. I couldn't sus whether the regulations this winter had been issued yet or not. Perhaps that would be something somebody else could find out. It is at this point that I realize I am being drawn into a quagmire of acts and regulations. A literal minefield that is as far as I can tell now set up to favour those who can afford to buy. No revelation there then.

I get to the display thing they have and it's past lunch time so I grab up all the info I can get and head to pret. The sheer volume of work getting done is staggering, it's not just camp beds and soup, there are support workers with tailored plans to assist with addiction, behavioral and mental health problems, employ-ability, life skills like cooking. Then I find it the absolute corker, a leaflet titled should I give money to beggars?

So now we know, the people who are on the front line are asking us not to encourage cash begging. Last night's discussion is ringing in my head so I leave my latte and stomp back outside to the assembled CIRDIC staff and challenge them. Do they think promoting this leaflet is imposing their values on homeless people?"NO"they say. The nice lady looks weary of this question already. The look on her face makes me feel like an ignorant child about to be schooled. "Feeding drug addiction makes our fellow human beings less able to recover. It prolongs their time on the streets and makes it harder for them to break the destructive cycle they are in. Drug and alcohol addiction make it harder for them to access health and well being services. Enabling a person to destroy their lives is not a 'nice' thing to do to people is it?" I was right, I got schooled.

I went back to my nice warm council flat. It was 2.50pm

Whilst all that is lovely we are also out campaigning on the causes of homelessness, like the bedroom tax campaign. Sign it here please or come out with Whitley ward activists on Saturday. There is some work being done to identify the isolated residents around the town and then of course there is all the work going on to decrease the gaps in inequality and access to services. Better education in a difficult delivery environment. None of these things happen as though by magic, since you asked me to take the chair of RDLP I have seen the absolute best of our party at work, ordinary every day people have put themselves forward to support the people of Reading through voluntary, community and political engagement. Their service to us as a party and a town should be recognized and respected.

I was reminded recently that while we are volunteers we are not amateurs. In order to convince the public then we first have to convince ourselves. That means getting informed. It is not hard, we can all do it, we need to be able to listen as well as talk. Challenge is fine, without it we would be a sorry lot but when faced with facts we must open our minds to the idea that we are not always right.