A housing minister has vowed to quit if the problem of rough sleeping gets worse on her watch.
Heather Wheeler insisted there would be improvements after the plight of England’s estimated 4,700 rough sleepers was starkly highlighted by the ‘Beast from the East’ storm which plunged the country into sub-zero temperatures over the last week.
A record number of rough sleepers were referred to a specialist helpline by members of the public as the icy blast gripped the country.
More than 3,600 alerts were sent to StreetLink, which connects the homeless to local services, between Monday and Tuesday morning – the highest total ever for a 24-hour period.
Housing Minster Heather Wheeler has vowed to quit if the problem of rough sleeping gets worse on her watch
A record number of rough sleepers were referred to a specialist helpline by members of the public as the icy blast gripped the country
Ms Wheeler announced that pilot schemes providing ‘wraparound’ care for homeless people would launch in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool next month.
Asked if she believed the government will meet its target of eliminating rough sleeping within a decade, Ms Wheeler told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour said: ‘It’s a high ambition. But I don’t see why we won’t get that sorted.
‘I accept that I am inheriting a very difficult, complex problem – and I also accept that, six weeks in to the job, I am inheriting a decisive prime ministerial decree which I will deliver.’
Asked how she would feel if the problem gets worse on her watch, she said: ‘Well there are two answers to that: a) it won’t and b) I’d resign.’
The £28 million ‘housing first’ scheme will direct homeless people to shelters and help them deal with drug, alcohol, mental health and family breakdown problems.
From there they will be allowed to progress to ‘move-on’ accommodation, supported by outreach workers, and then homes of their own.
‘That is the utopia and that is the line I want to see happening for these poor friends,’ Ms Wheeler said.
‘The Government has accepted, and acknowledges, and wants to do more in this area – and has given me the budget.’
The number of people sleeping rough in England reached a recorded high of 4,751 in the autumn of last year, new data revealed in January – with almost a quarter in London alone
The number of people sleeping rough in England reached a recorded high of 4,751 in the autumn of last year, new data revealed in January.
Figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government revealed the highest figure in the eight years rough sleeping has been tracked.
It marks another steep rise in the problem in recent years, up 15 per cent from 4,134 in 2016 to the highest point since comparable records began in 2010.
Of the people counted rough sleeping in London there were 1,137. This is an increase of 18 per cent from the 2016 figure of 964.
In 2017 London accounted for 24 per cent of the total England figure, compared to 23 per cent in 2016 and 26 pr cent in 2015
Charity Homeless Link said the homelessness figures amounted to a 73 per cent rise in rough sleeping over the past three years.