The consultation had three distinct elements:

• an electronic questionnaire circulated amongst both voluntary and statutory organisations working with homelessness and social exclusion;
• interviews with a range of stakeholders for a more strategic overview of the priorities and potential programme;
• focus groups and interviews carried out with homeless or ex-homeless people.

There was broad agreement on the focus the programme should take. Three themes emerged as priorities for all parties consulted:

• Mapping the relationship between homelessness and other aspects of acute social exclusion (first preference for organisations)
• Identifying the causes of multiple exclusion homelessness (first preference for people with experience of homelessness)
• Looking at who is responsible for tackling homelessness

However, people with experience of homelessness who took part in the consultation favoured stronger emphasis on the role of poverty, while organisations involved with homelessness were more in favour of looking at the role of psychological factors. Organisations working in homelessness also placed a great emphasis on research that identifies what works.

Whilst there was a clear consensus, the consultation shifted away from the original premise of reaching a list of priorities, towards different models that represent the themes laterally and in a cross-cutting manner and have the capacity to combine the themes in ways that are relevant to the experience of multiple exclusion homelessness. Future research should incorporate detail and make the analytical framework more sophisticated rather than less.

The overarching theme was a need for a holistic approach that:

• starts from the individual regardless of their presenting characteristics;
• views exclusion as a two-way process between an individual and society
• takes an open and holistic view of the issues rather than shoe-horn them into familiar categories
• incorporates a time and journey element of analysis, including intergenerational issues where relevant;
• is aware of specific dimensions (e.g. gender) and their impact.

Finally the focus of the programme as homeless person-centred and geared towards policy recommendation and change was well-received, and resonate with thinking in the sector. There was a wide general agreement that, for the programme to achieve its objectives, delivery should draw on the knowledge and experience of all stakeholders (including organisations working in the area and people experiencing homelessness and social exclusion), while ensuring that academic methodology and rigour is maintained.

The consultation process to inform a potential ESRC bid has been funded by Communities and Local Government and the Housing Corporation.

The report was written by Mary Carter, freelance consultant and researcher, who also carried out the stakeholder interviews and analysed information from the electronic survey circulated by Homeless Link, and the peer research focus groups and interviews carried out by Groundswell.

Back to the ESRC programme pages