Rise in rough sleepers

The number of homeless people in Shropshire has seen a significant increase in the past year.

The number of rough sleepers was found to be 21 during a headcount held last year, up from 13 the previous year.

The rise concerned members of Shropshire Council’s Health and Wellbeing board, who said they were grateful for work to help support those who had fallen on hard times.

Laura Fisher, presenting a report on the situation to the board, said a head count was carried out over one night and had seen the rise.

She said rough sleepers were being offered the chance for accommodation in the winter.

She said: “The annual rough sleeper count took place in Shropshire the evening of November 20, last year.

“Shropshire entered a figure of 21 verified rough sleepers. The count was formed from a spotlight count in Shrewsbury alongside known verified data from Task Force Meetings to provide an estimate for the market towns.

“Housing Services activated Cold Weather Provision (CWP), which is a non-statutory provision of accommodation for all rough sleepers in the county, on December 14.

“This will be ongoing until March. CWP is an offer of accommodation to all current known rough sleepers as well as any that present during the winter months.

“This provision offers stability and security to rough sleepers identified by Shropshire’s taskforce, and presents different opportunities for officers to engage with and provide support to those requiring it.

“Assistance is provided to explore a range of accommodation options in an attempt to find suitable, permanent accommodation away from street homelessness.

“For those who refuse the offer of CWP there will be an offer of Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP) during times when the weather is considered severe.

“An example of this would be consecutive nights of below freezing temperature. SWEP is offered in conjunction with Shrewsbury Ark utilising a mixture of volunteers and officers to staff the provision. To date this year, three nights of SWEP have been offered and we will be meeting about this upcoming weekend today.

“The Outreach service continues throughout the winter period, attending any reports of rough sleepers and making them aware of the advice and support available. Outreach covers the whole of Shropshire.

“MHCLG has funded Shropshire Council £20,000 towards the cost of Cold Weather Provision for the winter months of 2018/2019.”

Professor Rod Thomson, the council’s director of public health, said: “People are vulnerable now for many, many reasons and there is an accumulative effect.

“We have seen a continued loss of public health funding, the latest we were told about on Christmas Eve. We are working with what we can.”