A New Approach To Engaging With Rough Sleepers In Liverpool
New specialist teams will be employed to engage with rough sleepers and clean up areas of Liverpool city centre.
According to a report in the Liverpool Echo, the city centre has numerous hotspots used by the homeless which need regular cleansing and the council says this has a knock-on effect on the rest of its city-centre programme. In its new approach, the authority said it wants the teams to build relationships with those who frequent the sites and work with homelessness support services such as Addaction and the Whitechapel Centre. Staff will receive specialist training in dealing with vulnerable people and will wear protective clothing due to the nature of some of the items they will be clearing up.
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “We are already doing a huge amount of work to encourage rough sleepers off the streets and into accommodation such as Labre House where we can support them into a more permanent home and into a job or training. Despite the fact there is always room inside, we have a number of hotspot areas where people gather regularly, and this creates problems for our street cleansing teams who need to keep all areas of the city clean and tidy.”
“What we are doing here is putting in extra staff that will not just keep the area clean but will act as extra eyes and ears. They will get to know those who frequent the areas, and will be sensitive to their circumstances and signpost them to other agencies who are there to help them.”
The city council says it spends almost £11m per year preventing 7,000 people becoming homeless and tackling rough sleeping. Last November it launched Labre House, which accepts everyone through its doors every night of the year, regardless of their circumstances, and was recently doubled in size. Figures for January this year show that Liverpool City Council and The Whitechapel Centre prevented more than 160 people from sleeping on the streets in January, while 20 of the 46 people found sleeping rough were encouraged inside.
Funding is coming from a £2m environmental investment fund generated from efficiency savings made by creating a new arms-length company to operate refuse collection and street cleansing – Liverpool Street Scene Services Limited. The new teams will be recruited to start work in April.
Anyone with concerns about a rough sleeper can call the Always Room Inside helpline on 0300 123 2041.
