£4m homeless cash unspent
Funding unused, despite 2,600 sleeping rough amid pandemic
MILLIONS of pounds intended to help rough sleepers through the winter has not been spent, a minister has admitted.
The Housing Ministry runs the £10million Cold Weather Fund and £15m Protect Programme, which support efforts to provide accommodation during the pandemic. But with winter drawing to a close, Housing Minister Eddie Hughes admitted there was still £4m left over.
Replying to a question from Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary Thangam Debbonaire, he confirmed £9m from the Fund and £12m from Protect had been allocated to local authorities.
Mrs Debbonaire, said: “At least 2,600 people were sleeping rough at the height of the pandemic. Many could have been helped by funding that was available, yet Government incompetence prevented it being used.”
A Government spokeswoman insisted funds “were allocated based on bids from councils, which took into account local needs... and value for money”.
THE Supreme Court has barred runaway Islamic State bride Shamima Begum from returning to the UK to try to get her British citizenship back.
Judges ruled that her right to a fair hearing cannot override the rights of the nation’s citizens to safety.
The 21-year-old, pictured in Westernstyle clothes at the camp in Syria where she is being held, appeared to be upset after learning of the court’s decision.
The Government was celebrating the court victory but human rights group Liberty, which intervened in Ms Begum’s case, said it sets “an extremely dangerous precedent”.
She was 15 in 2015 when she and two other girls from London went to join IS in Syria where she married a fighter. Ms
Begum was found in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, and the then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of her British citizenship on security grounds.
Last year the Court of Appeal ruled she could return here to pursue her bid to win back citizenship.
The court found that she was prevented from fighting her case from the al-Roj detention facility in Rojava, north Syria, where she is barred from talking to her lawyers.
The Home Office argued that allowing her home would expose the public to greater risk of terrorism. Supreme Court judges yesterday ruled the Government had acted appropriately. Her case is now on hold until her circumstances
change. Lord Reed, the Supreme Court President, said: “The right to a fair hearing does not trump all other considerations, such as the safety of the public. If a vital public interest makes it impossible for a case to be fairly heard then the courts cannot ordinarily hear it.
“The appropriate response in the present case is for the hearing to be postponed until Ms Begum is in a position to play an effective part in it without the safety of the public being compromised. That is not a perfect solution, as it is not known how long it may be before that is possible.” The ruling has sparked anger in some quarters.
Rosie Brighouse, a lawyer with Liberty, said: “The right to a fair trial is not something democratic governments should take away on a whim, and nor is someone’s British citizenship.
“This approach does not serve justice. It’s a cynical distraction from a failed counter-terror strategy and another example of this government’s disregard for access to justice and the rule of law.”
Tory MP David Davis said: “Regardless of what individuals like Shamima Begum have done, the UK cannot wash our hands of Brits in Syrian camps. The correct approach [is] to return them to the UK to answer for their crimes.”
But think-tank the Henry Jackson Society said: “This decision is justified from a national security and natural justice viewpoint.” Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Our priority remains maintaining the safety of our citizens.”
AROUND ten dogs a day are being stolen in the UK, leaving their families devastated.
Animal charities say the lockdown has prompted the worst year ever for dog thefts after huge demand for pets sent puppy prices soaring to £4,000.
Missing pet website DogLost has reported a 170% increase in the number of dogs missing across the UK since the start of the pandemic.
And dog experts fear owners are now so afraid of their dogs being taken, they have started arming themselves.
Debbie Matthews, from Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance, said: “When lockdown happened, everyone wanted a puppy so that put prices up.
“At the start, people had their names down for a £1,000 puppy but they were being gazumped by someone offering £2,500.
“Before lockdown, about six dogs a day were stolen in the UK. We estimate that’s now about ten dogs a day.
“It is the biggest crime during Covid but many people are still unaware.”
Debbie, who is Sir Bruce Forsyth’s daughter, said dog theft was “a criminal’s dream job”. “It’s seen as a low risk and high reward,” she said.
“We need to make dog theft a specific criminal offence because currently, it is treated in the same bracket as a mobile phone being stolen or a wheelbarrow.”
Recently, dog thieves have been dressing up as RSPCA inspectors to con their victims and there have been some horrific attempts to steal pets.
Last Monday, a woman in Sheffield was dragged out of her car by her hair as thieves tried to take her Lhasa Apso.
And earlier this week in the US, Lady Gaga’s dog-walker was shot in the chest four times by a thief who escaped with the pop star’s two French bulldogs.
A “devastated” pet owner in London is also pleading for the return of her pet after carjackers stole her dog walker’s van in New Barnet, North London on February 18.
Two of the dogs inside were later found dumped in Kent but Nala, a oneyear-old Maltipoo, is still missing.
Her owner, Marina Pettigrew, has launched a nationwide appeal in a bid to get her pup home.
She said the dog walker had got out of the vehicle to drop one of the dogs home when the thieves “jumped in her van and drove off with Nala and two others”. Marina’s niece, Melina Georgiou, inset, said: “Nala is our family dog. We are grieving and it’s an emotional roller coaster. “It will traumatise us for ever but it’s worse for her. The thought she thinks we’ve abandoned her is horrendous.” Melina said the family bought Nala for £1,400 but have seen similar dogs being sold online for £4,000 – and feared the price rise was fuelling the problem. Justine Quirk, from DogLost, said she now felt “scared” to walk her dogs and told how she worried that “someone is going to get seriously hurt”. She said: “When you look on social media, people are already arming themselves. But you will end up getting in more trouble than the person who stole your dog.” Justine also urged pet owners to be vigilant at all times and warned that the most common place for a dog to be stolen is from the back garden of your home.