Karl McCartney

By Karl McCartney Karlmccartney

In a civilized society it is unacceptable that some of the most vulnerable people should be living on the street, making do with doorways and cardboard boxes for beds.

That is why I have taken part in Sleep Easy events to raise money for Lincoln’s YMCA projects that help tackle homelessness, and provide family support, health and fitness, and education and skills to vulnerable and disadvantaged young people. I know thousands of people in towns and cities up and down our country have also taken part in similar events over the past few years in their local communities.

On coming into office, this Government established a Ministerial Working Group on homelessness to tackle the problems behind rough sleepers and those at risk of homelessness. Their report, Making Every Contact Count provided the blueprint for councils, charities, health services and the police to work together to tackle homelessness. This support, which includes repossession, tenancy or debt advice and re-housing services, can help put people back on track before they lose their home.

The Government has made clear its commitment to early intervention in tackling homelessness. It is investing £470 million between 2011 and 2015 to help local authorities prevent and tackle homelessness, rough sleeping and repossessions and has increased the discretionary housing payments pot to around £400 million over the spending period in order to help families and those in vulnerable situations with the transition of welfare reform changes.

The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has backed the ‘No Second Night Out’ pilot in London which provides a 24-hour phone line that members of the public can use to report people that are sleeping rough, allowing them to be referred to an assessment hub for help. The DCLG is using a new £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund to roll out the principles of this scheme across the country.

The Government has also supported the voluntary sector to develop a new service, Streetlink, which offers a hand-up, rather than a handout. Streetlink provides a central point of contact that anyone who wants to get help for rough sleepers across England can call.

It is not right that families can be stuck in bed and breakfast accommodation for prolonged periods, and the law is clear that families should only be placed in this temporary accommodation in an emergency and for no more than six weeks. This is because since November 2012, local authorities have had new powers under the Localism Act to use good-quality private rented sector accommodation so that families will no longer need to be placed in temporary accommodation, such as B&Bs, while they wait for social housing to become available.

I am pleased that this Government will continue to work with the Ministerial Working Group and voluntary sector partners to prevent homelessness.

Karl McCartney was the Conservative Lincoln MP between 2010 and 2017. He is now the Conservative candidate for the city for the next general elections.

By Karl McCartney Karlmccartney

I welcome the fact that Members of Parliament have recently had the opportunity to debate the issue of RSPCA private prosecutions and I recognise the valuable contribution to animal welfare made by the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) in the past.

With that being said, the RSPCA is a prosecutor which in 2012 secured 3,000 convictions at a cost of £8.7 million. This is more than double the number of prosecutions it brought in 2008 when it prosecuted 1,252 defendants for cruelty to animals, compared with the Crown Prosecution Service’s 240.

The role of the RSPCA in this regard has been recently under close scrutiny and its recent sanctioning of a £300,000 private prosecution against the Heythrop Hunt brought the organisation to the attention of the Charity Commission for potentially breaching a ‘duty of prudence’ which governs its actions.

The fact that this hunt and its members were fined £6,800 really puts this total expenditure in perspective and one is poised to ask whether the hundreds of thousands of pounds of expenditure (originally donated to the RSPCA by members of the public) has been squandered unnecessarily on legal fees? How many domestic animals could have been protected and rescued with such a sum of money?

The RSPCA prosecutes when pretty much every other admirable charity, whether they deal with animal or human welfare, such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, relies entirely on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the police to deal with problem areas, issues and individual cases. I believe it is right and proper that the police must gather evidence, make arrests and submit a file to the CPS, which will then apply a stringent and objective test. This process exists to ensure objectivity and accountability.

I can appreciate that the high number of animal cruelty cases has led the RSPCA to institute criminal proceedings under the Prosecution of Offences Act (1985), however I feel it should for the most part limit its role to evidence gathering and then allow the CPS to consider whether prosecution is warranted on a case by case basis.

The RSPCA has conducted sterling work since its foundation in 1824, however I believe it has lost sight of its reason for existence in recent years. That is why many people such as myself who previously fulfilled a very active role in supporting the RSPCA and its core values, now no longer do.

It might be said that the money spent on politicised advertising, lobbying or legal fees could be better spent on the welfare of many at risk domestic animals. I for one would hope that in the future the main role of the RSPCA returns to that which the vast majority of its supporters would wish it to fulfil.

Karl McCartney was the Conservative Lincoln MP between 2010 and 2017. He is now the Conservative candidate for the city for the next general elections.