One individual without shelter is one too many

Council bosses this week said one person sleeping rough is one too many.

they were responding after new figures revealed that 130 people slept rough at least once during the three months prior to declaring themselves homeless to the council between april 2017 and March 2018.

It comes as housing charity seascape’s CEo Niven rennie questioned the data and insisted he was not aware of anyone sleeping rough in south ayrshire.

But council bosses insisted rough sleeping statistics were “entirely based on the responses provided by people when presenting to the local authority as homeless.”

they added: “the focus is on their individual perceptions about whether they have been sleeping rough prior to seeking support.

“However, the detail of the responses confirms that some people have included staying with friends or accommodation other than their home, or have made reference to sleeping rough somewhere other than south ayrshire when giving their answers.

“We will clarify this with the scottish government.

“as far as we’re concerned, one person saying they have been sleeping rough is one too many and there is absolutely no need for anyone in south ayrshire to sleep rough if they find themselves in a homeless situation.

“We have extensive support available, including a Homeless standby service, which is available out of hours and is well known to partners like police scotland and other agencies who may come into contact with someone who has become homeless.

“We know homelessness can affect anyone, from any walk of life, and we work hard to ensure people don’t have to resort to sleeping rough – all they have to do is get in touch.”

We have extensive support available