Express & Star

'No more rough sleepers on streets' says Wolverhampton Council leader

The only rough sleepers still on the streets of Wolverhampton are those that choose to be there, the leader of the city council has said.

Published

Councillor Ian Brookfield told cabinet members that there was now 'no street sleepers who didn’t have the opportunity of a bed for the night'.

Although the number of homeless in Wolverhampton is still rising steadily, the problem of people sleeping outside had been almost eliminated except for a handful who chose to stay on the streets, he said.

“There’s clearly a reason why some people do it – it could be down to mental health problems – but there are no rough sleepers who now have no opportunity of a roof over their heads and a bed for the night.

“This is excellent news for Wolverhampton, especially when the winter months arrive, and a lot of people have worked very hard for us to achieve this level of success – and for that I commend them.

“However, the next step we need to take is to tackle the problem of people begging for money on the streets.

“I would urge members of the public not to give money. Buy a sandwich and a coffee for someone yes – but don’t hand over cash.”

Councillor Brookfield said the council was establishing an ‘alternative giving’ internet page on its website, which would be up and running in a matter of weeks and was the safest and most useful way of donating money to help the city’s homeless.

“The moment this goes live we will be advertising it extensively all over the city so everyone knows about it. This will be the most effective way for people to help and every penny given will go towards this cause.”

Shortage

Deputy leader and cabinet member for city assets and housing, Councillor Peter Bilson added: “An ongoing problem in Wolverhampton that we are working to alleviate is the shortage of suitable accommodation for the growing number of homeless families.

“We need more housing in order to avoid having to put people in B&Bs, which is neither desirable nor the best option.

“There has been an increase of 22 per cent in families needing temporary accommodation since 2017 as more and more people are suffering poverty and struggling for a roof over their heads.”

Councillor Bilson said that a supplementary expenditure budget of £718,000 had been set up for 2019-20 following the reward of a homelessness grant, but that funding after 2019-20 would be dependent on the future Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government grant allocations.

“A review of housing-related services was first requested by the council in 2017. The main principal established through this was that it would be more logical and consistent for homelessness, temporary accommodation and housing support to be managed by Wolverhampton Homes (WH) as the in-house service provider, giving better value for money.”

He added that the council was also set to approve the use of an additional ten council housing properties for the use of temporary housing, but that much more accommodation still needed to be found in the city.