Rise in rough sleepers a ‘blot’ on city reputation
ROUGH sleeping in Birmingham has hit record levels after rising 50 per cent in one year and is an ‘appalling blot’ on the city’s reputation, according to a leading charity.
Official figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government revealed 55 people were sleeping rough on the city’s streets on a single night last November
That was up from the 36 recorded in 2015 and six times the nine people counted in 2010. Across the seven West Midlands metropolitan councils the total number of rough sleepers was 132.
The official count, carried out by councillors, council officers and charity workers, took place just days before a homeless man died on John Bright Street from a suspected drugs overdose. But they are thought to underestimate actual numbers – particularly missing people sleeping in cars, sheds and derelict buildings.
The figures were released just as Birmingham City Council is considering a £10 million cut to its £24 million supporting people fund, which pays for services to prevent homelessness and enable vulnerable people to keep a roof over their head.
Alan Fraser, chief executive of Bir- mingham YMCA, said: “These latest figures are an appalling blot on Birmingham’s reputation, but the reasons for them are not hard to see.
“Services to rough sleepers have been cut back, benefit entitlements have been reduced, hostels are closing or being forced to restrict the type of people they can help.
“We have seen the tragic consequences of these changes before Christmas, and these figures merely reinforce the urgency of the situation. When people are literally dying on our streets it cannot be right for the council to divert money intended for the most vulnerable in our community to other services.”
The council’s Labour leader has previously highlighted the increase in rough sleeping as a national trend and blamed the Government’s welfare cuts for plunging more people into debt and out on the street.
The council’s ambassador for homelessness Sharon Thompson said: Despite our considerable financial pressures, we commission a wide range of services to support rough sleepers and those facing homelessness – whether young people, victims of domestic abuse, former offenders or entrenched rough sleepers.
Birmingham City Council is currently reviewing its homelessness policy and the backbench housing scrutiny committee is conducting an enquiry into rough sleeping.