Emergency Winter Action For Liverpool’s Rough Sleepers
Liverpool Council is considering reopening a homeless hub this winter as the number of rough sleepers across the city continues to increase, reports the Liverpool Echo.
During the bitterly cold weather earlier this year, the city council opened a temporary location in the city centre as part of its severe weather emergency protocol. Ahead of the temperatures dropping later in the year the authority is to again consider the emergency location that allows individuals sleeping rough to stay overnight until another solution is sourced. Officials were keen to stress in January it is not a walk-in service.
The announcement came as members of the sustainable, safe and thriving neighbourhoods committee were told rough sleeping and demand for temporary housing continues to increase across Liverpool. In August, the local authority set out how it wants to make homelessness across the city “rare, brief and non-recurring” amid the ongoing housing crisis. As part of its statutory duties, the council has to set out how it seeks to ensure people have access to housing. However the plan comes with dire warnings that financial pressures and changes to national policy continue to place strain on its services. Between 2017/18 and 2023/24, rough sleeping across Liverpool has increased by 141%. Ahead of last year’s local elections, the Labour group that runs Liverpool Council said it wanted to make the city a zero homelessness location.
Kath Wallace, head of commissioning for adult services, said the ending of tenancy agreements, families no longer willing to accommodate and domestic abuse remained the main drivers of homelessness cases. Ms Wallace told members how there was also an increased demand for temporary accommodation, despite efforts to bring numbers down. This includes hotels, which she said was “increasing significantly” and represented a “concern” for the authority given the financial pressure it creates. Increases in rough sleeping had taken place over the last year with between 28 to 35 people seen sleeping on the streets across the city centre on average each night. Ms Wallace said this was “still far too high” and the council was missing its targets to get people indoors.
Andrew Leigh, the city’s new director of housing, said his team acknowledged time spent in temporary accommodation was “not a good environment for households” and the council wanted to work with providers to help people “make a home.” Cllr Sam East, cabinet member for housing, said: “While presentation remains consistent, use of temporary accommodation is increasing, what that really captures is that we don’t find out about homelessness in the city as early as we’d like to.” Cllr East said he wanted the strategy to help the authority support families “before the worst happens” at which point it is “catastrophic.” On the night hub, Ms Wallace said this was being considered again for later in the year given it had proved “very successful” in January.
Increased access has also been made to bed and breakfast accommodation but the department did not know how far the funding from government would go which was hampering initial work.
