The government has released the annual rough sleeper figures for the country. In line with most of the UK, Solihull’s figures show a marked reduction in the amount of people sleeping on our streets.
Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Health, Cllr Karen Grinsell, said:
“The single night snap shot we carried out on behalf of the government on 19 November 2020 showed that we had one rough sleeper that night, a decrease of five on the previous year.
“This was in line with our findings in the months preceding the count and is testament to both the hard work of our outreach workers who support and encourage rough sleepers to move into safe accommodation, and the additional emergency funding for emergency accommodation provided by the government during the pandemic.
“Going forward, we received further funding from the government before Christmas which we are using to help purchase three one-bed flats for rough sleepers or single homeless people who need more intensive support to help them to move into and maintain a tenancy.
“We are also supporting rough sleepers who have complex support needs and a history of homelessness through the regional Housing First Pilot. We currently have 20 people on this programme and have supported 15 people into their own tenancies through Housing First since its launch in 2019.
“Through all of these interventions we are confident that nobody needs to sleep rough in Solihull. There are however a small number of people who aren’t ready to make the move into accommodation and our outreach team continues to help and support them until they feel able to do so.
“Lastly, I know people in this borough will also want to help people who are rough sleeping or homeless and in danger of rough sleeping. I would urge people who would like to help to support our campaign – Change into Action – which raises money to directly support people with appropriate help. If anyone is concerned about a person sleeping rough, please call Solihull Community Housing or make a report to Streetlink.”
- To contact Solihull Community Housing for emergency provision call 0121 717 1515 (24/7)
- To report and refer a rough sleeper for help, contact Streetlink at www.streetlink.org
- To view the latest government figures for rough sleeping see – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2020
- To make a donation to Change into Action visit www.changeintoaction.org.uk/solihull
- If you think the person you are concerned about is in immediate danger then please call 999.