Government approves Comprehensive National Strategy for Homeless

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers approved the first Comprehensive National Strategy for the Homeless, with the aim of improving care for those who live on the streets, reducing their number and restoring their role in society.

The Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality, Alfonso Alonso, pointed out that there are between 25,000 and 30,000 homeless in Spain, of whom "some 40% sleep on the streets". He also underlined that the document has been agreed on with other ministerial departments, with the regional governments, with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces and with some of the larger cities that already have specialised resources to attend to this group. In his opinion, "it is very important that, for the first time, this problem is tackled comprehensively".

Alfonso Alonso explained that the text contains five strategic lines. The first is the prevention, detection and early intervention of those people who may end up living on the streets. The minister pointed out that the main causes leading to a situation of homelessness are unemployment, an inability to pay rent, spousal separation and a change in location of residence.

The second line is raising awareness to avoid their discrimination and guarantee their security. Alfonso Alonso highlighted that a homeless person dies every six days in a public place, more than one third as a result of a violent situation. "These are people who are highly exposed and working towards raising awareness is another of the priorities under this plan".

Thirdly, the Strategy provides for so-called 'housing first', which consists of allocating a dwelling to people living on the streets. The minister specified that, aside from that, a commitment has been made to working towards their inclusion and in restoring their life project, which is the fourth strand. The fifth focuses on stepping up care and organising the network of resources to attend to them.

The strategy, summarised Alfonso Alonso, will try to "protect the homeless and take them off the streets", and will translate into action plans that will be approved over the course of the next year by the different public authorities".

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Pool Moncloa/J. M. CuadradoThe government approved the Spanish Strategy on Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), an historic demand from the group that seeks to improve their quality of life in various respects, above all in education and employment, and that of their families.

Alfonso Alonso highlighted that it is the first time that this issue has been tackled at a State level and this was achieved with the "unanimous vote of the Lower House of Parliament and all the political groups". Furthermore, he specified that there are more than 450,000 people in Spain with some form of autistic spectrum disorder and more than 1 million people affected when including their families.

Alfonso Alonso also underlined that between 70% and 90% of people with this disorder are unemployed, in spite of the fact that "they are splendid workers if a favourable labour environment exists".

According to the minister, the document "is a step forward in seeking to raise public awareness and comprehension by highlighting this reality and in guaranteeing the rights of these people".

Refugees

The Council of Ministers approved the National Programme to Resettle Refugees in Spain 2015 for a total of 854 people, 724 for the quota for 2015 and 130 pending from 2014.

The Vice-President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, specified that the resettlement programme is aimed at those who are made refugees as a result of conflicts considered as priorities, in particular in the Near East and Syria, and who are temporarily taken in by neighbouring countries to the region. As a result of this decision, Spain is meeting its commitments with the rest of its EU partners and with the main resettlement countries at a global level identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union (Near East, North Africa and Horn of Africa), he said.

Pool Moncloa/J. M. CuadradoAmong the actions contained under the programme, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría referred to the determination of the criteria for the selection of people to be resettled based on the priorities and needs for protection identified by the UNHCR. Furthermore, the Vice-President of the Government pointed out that the refugees that are beneficiaries of the programme will have the status of either refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection.

The Government Spokesperson also reported on the pilot relocation programme to bring those people to Spain who are already in the European Union. In this regard, she announced that on Sunday, the first flight will arrive from Italy with 19 refugees on board, of Eritrean and Syrian nationality.

Those people arriving on this first flight have differing needs, and hence the government is studying their profiles and working with the regional governments and with non-governmental organisations to send them to the centre that can best attend to them, she clarified. She also indicated that Spain is the third country in the European Union to organise pilot projects of this nature.

Technological modernisation of justice

The Council of Ministers approved two Royal Decrees that the Minister for Justice, Rafael Catalá, framed within the process of judicial modernisation through the use of new technologies.

The first of the texts regulates the procedure for the acquisition of Spanish nationality through prior residency. Rafael Catalá explained that some 150,000 people apply for nationality each year after having met the requirements which, according to their country of origin, are established by legislation in terms of the number of years of residency in Spain. This generates an administrative file through applications on paper and leads to a procedure that must be initiated at the civil registry offices tasked with this function. Applicants must make between three and six visits to administrative offices and the resolution of the case takes almost three years on average.

APool Moncloa/J. M. Cuadradoccording to the minister, this is a "wonderful example of a traditional administrative procedure that can be perfectly well improved upon". This is the aim of the regulation approved on Friday which sets out a procedure based on all its phases but through an electronic platform. Access to this system is through the web page of the Ministry of Justice and the Public Administration Portal.

Interested parties may also present their applications to the Civil Registry Office corresponding to their domicile prior to 30 June 2017.

Rafael Catalá highlighted that the procedure will simply and significantly reduce bureaucracy (the resolution will be notified to the interested party within a maximum period of one year). He also referred to the elimination of administrative burdens for applicants, since the public authorities that take part in this process will coordinate among themselves and citizens will no longer need to obtain various certificates, such as their criminal record.

The minister pointed out that applicants will need to pay a fee of 100 euros "to offset the expenses incurred to obtain nationality quicker and through a much simpler procedure".

Judicial auctions

The other Royal Decree approved on Friday relating to the technological modernisation of the Administration of Justice establishes the procedure to take part electronically in judicial and notary auctions.

To date, explained the Minister for Justice, each of the 65,000 auctions of this nature that take place each year in Spain are called by the corresponding court, which publishes them on a notice board through an edict. This system forces each of the courthouses in the country to have a formal and material access procedure. The new regulation creates an electronic system, a single portal through the Official State Gazette, which will allow access to any type of auction via the Internet. "All citizens may have this information and make bids with absolute transparency", he claimed.

He added that the system will allow the Administration of Justice to be discharged of bureaucratic tasks. The Vice-President of the Government pointed out that the development of this initiative, one of the most important in the Report on the Reform of the Public Administration Services, will result in a saving in administrative burdens of almost 4.9 million euros. It will also help the recently created Office to Recover Assets, he stated.

Progress on Banking Union

Pool Moncloa/J. M. CuadradoThe government regulated the measures for the resolution and recovery of credit institutions and investment service firms. The Government Spokesperson underlined that the regulation is a step forward in the framework of building the European Banking Union.

The costs for the resolution of an institution will be taken on by shareholders, creditors and, in the last resort, by the National Resolution Fund, and hence the use of public resources will be limited in this regard. The new regulation, according to Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, "seeks to guarantee maximum protection for depositors". Hence, deposits of up to 100,000 euros (covered by the Deposit Guarantee Fund) will not be subject to absorption of losses. And in the event of insolvency proceedings, both the deposits that are covered and those that are not will have priority over other creditors.

The regulation also develops the role of the Orderly Bank Restructuring Fund (Spanish acronym: FROB), as the National Resolution Authority, as well as the contributions of institutions to the National Resolution Fund and the Deposit Guarantee Fund.

Other agreements

• Dismissal of reserve Air Force General José Julio Rodríguez Fernández due to a lack of confidence and suitability for the post of member of the Assembly of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegildo. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría stressed that the statements made by the general to the media "when he was still in a reserve military post and in which he gave opinions subject to different political debate represent a breach of the duty of political neutrality required of military personnel and, moreover, of those such as the general who have held the highest ranks in the military hierarchy".
• Approval of 86.7 million euros for the hiring of 800 scientists and support technicians. The granting of this aid will be divided in various rounds of calls and will be used to finance and incentivise the incorporation of researchers and technical personnel at universities and public and not-for-profit private research centres.
• Distribution among regional governments of 24 million euros for the purchase of text books and educational material for families.
• Framework State Plan on Waste Management, establishing the strategic lines for the next six years and measures to meet EU targets.
• Plan to Boost the Environment in the Business Sector - PIMA Empresa - with a provision of 5 million euros, to incentivise reductions in CO2 emissions.

Respect for the Constitution

Pool Moncloa/J. M. CuadradoIn response to questions from the press, the Vice-President of the Government asserted that if the Regional Parliament of Catalonia approves the resolution proposal made by two parliamentary groups in the current or similar terms, ignoring the warning given by the Constitutional Court of the obligation on the Regional Parliament and its subsidiary bodies to respect the Constitution, the government "will immediately, on Monday, start procedures to lodge an appeal", and will ask for "the declaration to be suspended".

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría explained that the government will "urgently" request the Council of State to issue the preliminary report necessary and as soon as it is ready, the Council of Ministers will be called on an emergency basis. "The immediacy of the government's action will be absolute", stressed the Vice-President of the Government. This action will "always be prudent and proportionate, but at the same time firm and decisive", she underlined.

In this regard, she maintained that the government "will use all the instruments at its disposal to ensure that the law is upheld, to ensure the unity of Spain, to ensure the sovereignty of all Spaniards, to ensure the equality of all Spaniards and of the law".
She also declared that the "government feels backed by a union of political forces, national parties and social institutions as a whole, which support the strategy of compliance with the law, respect for legality, unity and equality".