Latest news in Yorkshire: April 11, 2019 11:04:08 AM
#wathupondearne
Next week Rotherham Council’s Cabinet are expected to agree an ambition
to end rough sleeping in the borough, as part of adopting a new
Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeper Strategy.
Like many parts of the country, Rotherham has faced an increasing number
of people finding themselves facing homelessness. The number of
households being supported at any one time by the Council’s Homelessness
Team more than doubled to 403 over the course of 2017/18. At the same
time, the number of people who were believed to have actually become
homeless in the borough rose by 20%.
As a result, the Council has already doubled the number of emergency
accommodation available to those in need, increased the priority of
homeless people to access council housing, and this winter for the first
time teamed up with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to make
emergency shelter provision available during especially cold weather.
Now the plan sets out the Council’s six key aims for addressing the root
causes of homelessness, by working with partners and most importantly,
people who have experienced homelessness, in order to develop solutions
to reduce homelessness over the next three years:
To support people with complex needs
To prevent homelessness and provide rapid housing solutions
To increase support for young people to prevent homelessness
To end rough sleeping and begging
To improve access to tenancy support, employment and health support
services
To ensure there is sufficient decent emergency accommodation
The Council’s plan has been bolstered by recent news of additional
funding coming to the borough.
A grant of £328,000 shared between Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster
Councils from the government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative will support
the region’s rough sleepers so that they can move off the streets and
into secure accommodation where they can get the help they need to
rebuild their lives.
Rotherham will also receive an additional two grants totalling £123,000
from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
Plans are now underway to introduce several new roles across the three
towns, including homelessness prevention workers who will work with
housing options services in each council to focus on stronger prevention
measures; mental health practitioners; and a regional co-ordinator to
enable greater collaboration on rough sleeping.
Council Leader, Cllr Chris Read said; “Whilst Rotherham’s issues with
homelessness are perhaps less apparent than those in other parts of the
country, especially in some of the big cities, it is very clear that
more people are facing incredibly challenging circumstances. For a long
time, it seemed that we had more or less seen the end of it, but now
people sleeping in shop doorways is once again one of the moral outrages
of our time.
“The Council has already been increasing its response in order to
support more people to keep a roof over their heads, and just as
importantly to be able to sustain their home for the long term. In this
new strategy, and supported by the funding we have successfully secured,
we are redoubling our determination to tackle homelessness, end rough
sleeping, and make sure we leave no one behind.”
[tags homeless, sleeping, rotherham]