Black Country leads the way to provide free housing for rough sleepers

Ministers announced earlier this year that the West Midlands had been chosen to pilot the £9.6 million Housing First scheme, which provides homes for people sleeping on the streets.

And the Express & Star can reveal that Walsall Council has led the way on the project, with the authority housing 29 rough sleepers so far.

Meanwhile, Sandwell Council says it helped 40 homeless people into secure accommodation when the Beast from the East hit earlier this year.

It came as West Midlands Mayor Andy Street announced a winter plan for rough sleepers aimed at combatting homelessness in the coming months.

Walsall Council's housing chief Councillor Adrian Andrew, said: “Homelessness is a complex and important issue, and this winter we are stepping up our efforts.

“In Walsall we have already piloted Housing First and helped 29 rough sleepers since November 2017, and it’s good to see the scheme being rolled out across the whole of the West Midlands."

Alert

Housing First is based on a Finnish model, and is designed to provide people with a home and also give them extra support to stay off the streets, including help with mental health issues and drug addiction.

The mayor's winter plan will allow people to alert councils to rough sleepers in the area by contacting StreetLink at streetlink.org.uk

It will also see teams of support workers bidding to get people off the streets by offering the required support.

Mr Street said: “There are many dedicated people who work incredibly hard for local authorities and charities throughout the year to help vulnerable people.

"Over the next few months we will all need to work even harder to support them.”

Councillor Gaye Partridge, Dudley Council's housing boss, said: “We would encourage people to report anyone they believe to be sleeping rough in our borough."

Sandwell Council's housing lead, Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, said: “Homelessness, and in particular rough sleeping has a terrible impact on people’s lives.

"In Sandwell we remain very committed to making sure that wherever possible people are supported to come off the streets.

“During the cold snap earlier this year we helped more than 40 people into safe secure accommodation protecting them from the harsh elements of the freezing cold. We will be adopting exactly the same approach this winter in full support of the Winter Plan.”

Councillor Peter Bilson, Wolverhampton Council's housing chief, said the city's outreach team were 'constantly out' spotting rough sleepers and worked closely with partner agencies such as P3.

Shocking rise sees 24,000 facing Christmas sleeping rough

More than 24,000 people in Britain are facing Christmas sleeping rough, in tents or on public transport, according to new research.

This number has increased massively over the last five years, according to the national homelessness charity Crisis, which commissioned the study from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

The research shows 12,300 people are currently sleeping rough on the streets and nearly 11,950 are spending their nights in cars, on trains, on buses or in tents.

It found that between 2012 and 2017, these numbers increased by 120 per cent in England and 63 per cent in Wales.

Crisis says the number of people sleeping rough in England is more than double what Government statistics suggest.

The charity said the study pulled together a range of sources, including data from support services that record people’s experiences of sleeping rough which, according to the researchers, is not included in the Government’s count.

The charity said those sleeping outside are subject to a range of dangers, with homeless people almost 17 times more likely to be victims of violence and 15 times more likely to be verbally abused.

Crisis said it wants national and devolved governments to tackle the root causes of rough sleeping by strengthening the welfare system and making sure every homeless person has access to mainstream housing as quickly as possible.

Keep the noise down – we’re sleeping

A comfy sofa, central heating and plenty of hush – the perfect place to get your head down for 40 winks.

This is a familiar scene for people using Wolverhampton Library as groups come in from the cold for some comfort.

A library user wanted to print out her tickets for a Wolves game in the Central Library building on a Saturday when she came across a group of men sleeping in a communal area, whom she believed to be homeless.

According to the user, who wanted to remain anonymous, she was told by a library worker that nothing could be done to stop them using the area to sleep.

In fact, libraries have long provided shelter for the homeless and the practice was highlighted by author George Orwell when he penned his book Down and Out in Paris and London.

She said: “There on the sofas are a group of homeless men totally out of it. The library worker said there is nothing they can do; they haven’t been able to stop them.”

A spokesman for Wolverhampton Council said: “A public library is for everyone regardless of their position in society.

"The problem of people falling asleep at Central Library isn’t common and, while it does happen from time to time, it isn’t always related to homelessness.

"Indeed, the sofas pictured form the waiting area for people wishing to use the library PCs.

“No concerns were reported to the duty officer in charge at Central Library at the time; if, however, someone was thought to be causing a disruption for whatever reason, they would of course immediately be told to leave the building.”