No rough sleepers currently in district

CURRENTLY, West Berkshire has no rough sleepers.

This outstanding success has been achieved by the hard work of West Berkshire Council’s dedicated team working in partnership with other agencies and the voluntary sector to ensure that all rough sleepers were not only accommodated, but given help to get their lives back on track.

The Everyone In initiative launched by central government with accompanying funding from the Department for Levelling

Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) means that we have been able to offer support to rough sleepers and the homeless in the following areas:

Our Housing First scheme currently has 14 people living in their properties, with a further six who are in receipt of support from Two Saints in preparation for their new tenancies commencing.

Our education and training officer has successfully assisted six people back into work through her intervention, while a further six have been successfully enrolled into employment-related training courses

We are focussing our work on prevention measures and enabling people to sustain their tenancies.

With these ends in mind we are using the Rough Sleeper Initiative funds to extend the services we offer to include a specialist dual diagnosis worker and a mental health worker to target specific support to those most in need.

We have also recently recruited a rough sleeper prevention officer whose role is to work to prevent people ending up on the streets following discharge from institutions.

Additionally, we have secured further grant funding from Homes England and DLUHC to provide 15 units of accommodation for

the rough sleeper cohort. These properties will be available in the coming year.

The work that has gone into our achievements is notable.

At a meeting last week the

DLUHC emphasised that West Berkshire Council is unique in its consistent approach to maintaining low rough sleeping numbers and that it is down to the continuous priority and support given to it from a political level, council officer level and key

partnership level which is not seen consistently across other local authorities.

I want to thank everyone involved for their endeavour and commitment to transforming the lives of rough sleepers within the district.

HILARY COLE

Executive member for housing, strategic partnerships and transformation

West Berkshire Council