Sam names and shames councils
SINGER BACKS BID TO OFFER FREE HELPLINES
POP star Sam Fender has launched a furious attack on North East councils for charging “skint and helpless” residents for phone calls.
The North Shields singer was backing a campaign by charity North East Homeless (NEH), calling on councils to offer free helplines for homeless and vulnerable people in need of urgent support.
In September NEH raised concerns that people in urgent need of housing and other support wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of calling council helplines at a time when the charity was forced to halt its outreach programme.
Charity founder Brian Burridge demanded councils make the helplines free in a bid to ensure those most in need of assistance could get it.
Newcastle City Council and North Tyneside Councils made the changes – but during the second lockdown Gateshead, Durham and Northumberland councils were still operating phone lines which charged callers, although they say there are ways for those who need help to contact them.
On Friday, the singer-songwriter, who has worked with homelessness charities and dedicated the profits from a recent single to The Big Issue, called on the authorities to act immediately. He tweeted: “Working w @2014NEH we’ve learnt that 4 local councils in the NE aren’t providing free helplines for the most vulnerable. Absolutely shocking. Charging 40p/min to the most skint & helpless!”
Tagging the councils in his tweet, he demanded: “WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT??”
Replying to Sam’s tweet, a spokesperson for Gateshead Council said: “We’re looking to implement this as soon as we can. In the meantime, if anyone calls our dedicated number, 0191 433 3174, we will call them back or they can email housingadvice@gatesheadhousing.gov.
uk. Plus there are Free Inlink terminals in [Gateshead] town centre outside of Argos and Barclays Bank from which you can phone free of charge.”
Meanwhile, the other three councils defended their positions when Chroniclelive highlighted the issue earlier this week. Stuart Timmiss, Durham County Council’s head of development and housing, said: “We have looked into the possibility of making our housing advice line an 0800 number and despite the many positive comments and feedback we receive about our homeless services, we always listen to feedback and will keep this under review.
“Our advice line will continue to be available free of charge for anyone with a mobile package and for all calls we receive we will continue offer to phone the person back to save them expense. We will also continue to issue mobile phones with credit to rough sleepers who access our services to allow them to get in touch with us whenever they need support.”
Phil Soderquest, head of housing and public protection at Northumberland County Council, said: “People who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness, have multiple points of access to the council including through our contact centres and our customer service centre which operates a standard landline charge. If we get such a call, a member of our Homelessness and Housing Options Teams will call the person back, so they are not incurring a telephone charge.”
A spokeswoman for South Tyneside Council said: “The council is currently investigating the provision of a freephone number for homelessness queries or presentations.”