All but ‘one or two’ homeless people still in accommodation

And this has led to accusations that beggars in and around the city centre are not actually homeless, and may well be being exploited by criminal gangs.

Local authorities across the country began moving rough sleepers into emergency accommodation to protect them from Covid-19 back in March, when councils were given £3.2m in government funding.

Around 70 individuals were placed into accommodation in Birmingham, where they stayed in a hotel until the middle of last month, cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods Councillor Sharon Thompson confirmed.

And of those the majority have now been placed into alternative accommodation, with "two people maximum" refusing the offer of further accommodation.

“On the 15th of June we stopped using the commercial hotel that we had been using throughout Covid-19 when it came to rough sleepers,” she said, speaking at this week’s full council meeting.

“I’m pleased to say that all of the rough sleepers that were utilising that space, which was around about 70, have been offered accommodation.

“Some of them have actually been reunited with family, which is quite nice, and some of them have gone into permanent accommodation, which is flats and bungalows, and some has gone into more supportive housing which is more stable for them, which is obviously more suitable than the facility that they were in.

“And that has been courtesy of not just the council but other housing associations. So all of them have been offered somewhere.

“I think one – possibly two, maximum, went back to the street, and that’s because they weren’t ready to accept the support that was offered.

“I will say that homelessness is a moving entity, so it’s never going be a case of you get those numbers off the streets and it’s a done deal. It has to be clear that the pandemic was about actually stopping the virus from spreading, but we’ve managed to get people into permanent accommodation.

“The biggest concern at the moment coming down the track is that if we do not put prevention in place for people like renters and others, they could potentially become the next set of rough sleepers.”

Responding to Councillor Thompson at the meeting Councillor Roger Harmer questioned why, if there are fewer people on the streets, there had been a perceived rise in street begging over the past month or so from people claiming to be homeless.

Councillor Harmer even went as far as to suggest that these individuals are being exploited by criminal gangs, something which Councillor Thompson confirmed the police were looking into.

“I’ve always said that those that are rough sleeping are not necessarily those that are begging – some do some don’t,” she said.

“And we know that the street population is not exactly the same. And from some of the people that we’ve helped, we know that there has been some elements of exploitation, and the community safer team and the police and others are actually looking at that.

“So yes, I would agree that there are some people that have been exploited. We are working with different agencies around that, but not all these people are rough sleepers, and some of them will have accommodation.”