LATEST figures show a 62 per cent reduction in the number of people sleeping rough across the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) area.
The number of rough sleepers recorded in local authority autumn snapshot counts has fallen from 115 in 2019 to 44 in 2020, the lowest number in 10 years.
Work undertaken by local authorities and partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors across the region throughout the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic has ensured people who are rough sleeping or at risk of homelessness, have been supported.
The region’s efforts have been backed by targeted funding under the government’s ‘Everyone In’ initiative, which allowed local authorities to quickly mobilise additional accommodation for those at risk of rough sleeping.
Continued help has been provided and supported by funding which the region has attracted including £2.88m of money from the government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative.
An additional £8.97m of funding came through initiatives such as the Next Steps Accommodation Programme, Protect Programme and Protect Plus Programme which aim to build on earlier work in the pandemic to provide longer term accommodation for former rough sleepers.
Councillor Sharon Thompson, Birmingham City Council’s cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods, and chair of the WMCA Homelessness Taskforce Members Advisory Group, said: “We have been able to make a huge impact on rough sleeping through the collective efforts of our local authorities and wider partners.
“However, we are acutely aware that we haven’t yet seen the full financial and housing impacts of Covid-19. Our collective focus in the region is on prevention and protective measures which keep people in homes, jobs and good health.
“We need a continued commitment from government to direct resources at preventing homelessness, so helping people long before they reach crisis or the streets.”
West Midlands residents are being urged to let local authorities know about anybody who they think may be rough sleeping. They can do this by contacting StreetLink at https://www.streetlink.org.uk/.
Residents can also help by making a donation to Change into Action at https://changeintoaction.org.uk/ to support charities working with homeless people in Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
