40 per cent fall in people sleeping rough, reveals mayor
THE number of rough-sleepers across Greater Manchester has fallen by almost 40 per cent in the last year, mayor Andy Burnham has revealed.
Figures show the amount of people sleeping on the streets across the region has dropped from 241 in November 2018 to 151.
Manchester city saw a drop of 26pc, while in Trafford, there is now only one person recorded as sleeping rough.
The mayor says what people see in Manchester during the day, no longer reflects he situation in the early hours of the morning.
This is due to his Bed Every Night Scheme, which has also helped nearly 3,000 people move into secure accommodation since its launch in 2018.
In the last month, 502 people have been offered a bed via the scheme, which Mr Burnham wants to see rolled out nationally.
Figures show rough-sleeping in England increased by 269pc between 2010 and 2017, before falling by 1.5pc in 2018.
Political leaders were urged to prioritise the ‘homelessness crisis’ in last week’s election, after 726 people died in England and Wales last year.
Mr Burnham has made a repeated call on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take action to end the crisis of people sleeping rough nationally.
“We still have much further to go on our mission to end the situation of people sleeping rough in Greater Manchester but this is real progress,” Mr Burnham said.
“It has been achieved by the hard work of hundreds of caring people in our councils, charities and faith communities and the generosity of the Greater Manchester public. It shows the power of this place when we work as one. But we now need much more help from the government.”
The Greater Manchester mayor is asking Mr Johnson to release the extra £54m for rough-sleeping promised in the last parliament to towns and cities. He is also calling for the prime minister to end the freeze on the Local Housing Allowance with immediate effect, ending no-fault evictions and abolish the no recourse to public funds policy.
“We need an end to policies which are forcing people onto the streets
– such as the freeze on local housing allowance – and more support to extend schemes like A Bed
Every Night right across the country,”
Mr Burnham added.