Number of rough sleepers in city is cut to just 10

After levels of homelessness reached the second highest in the last decade during the pandemic, Phil Corrigan looks at how that number has now been cut by almost two-thirds

THE number of rough sleepers in Stoke-on-trent has fallen by nearly two-thirds after spiking during the pandemic, council officers say.

Stoke-on-trent City Council counted 10 people sleeping on the streets of the Potteries on March 8, down from an estimated

28 in November – the second highest figure recorded over the last decade.

During the first Covid-19 lockdown, the government instructed local authorities to find temporary accommodation for all homeless people under the ‘Everyone In’ programme.

But the city council says that during the latter half of 2020 the funding ran out, meaning the number of rough sleepers in Stoke-on-trent began to climb again.

Tomos Jones, strategic manager for homelessness, told the adults and neighbourhoods scrutiny committee: “We had a big spike in rough sleeping in 2018, which we were making very good progress towards dealing with at the end of 2019.

“But it had gone up when we carried out the estimate in November last year, and that was almost entirely due to the Covid situation.

“But I’m pleased to say the picture is a lot better now. The count in January found there were 17 people sleeping rough, and on

March 8, the number was down to 10.

“All of those 10 individuals had received an offer of accommodation but either turned it down or lost it due to unacceptable behaviour.”

Mr Jones told the committee that the city council was one of the best performing authorities in the country in terms of preventing and relieving homelessness.

He said that only a ‘very small proportion’ of the rough sleepers accommodated during the first lockdown returned to the streets, thanks to the support they were receiving.

The council commissions a rough sleeper outreach team from Brighter Futures.

Chief executive Helena Evans, left,told the committee: “One area that has been increasingly concerning has been around serious addiction to drugs and alcohol. I’d say 95 per cent of the people we see have got an addiction issue.

“That can be a barrier, and an issue around the sustainability of tenancies as well.

“That’s the reason why we’re seeing notices given by hotels, because it’s unmanageble at times. So that needs to be a focus going forward.”

Mr Jones told the committee that the council had now started to move rough sleepers into Lily Gertrude Simister Court, in Tunstall, which was previously a sheltered housing complex for older people.