Warwickshire County Council plans £300,000 investment to tackle homelessness

The Warwickshire County Council is launching a two-year programme as an initiative to tackle homelessness and work with those who suffer from mental health issues, drugs and/or alcohol problems. The programme is receiving £300,000 in funding from the council.

The proposed programme will facilitate cooperation between the Warwickshire County Council, district and borough councils, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust, Warwickshire Police and other organisations.

The last rough sleeper count estimated that Warwickshire has 49 rough sleepers, however, as a spokesperson from the County Council said: “This is only part of the picture. We also know that there are a proportion of people who have become homeless, but do not show up yet in official figures, sometimes known as ‘hidden homeless’.”

He continued: “There are also individuals/households who are classed as statutory homeless, whereby they no longer have a legal right to occupy their accommodation or if it would no longer be reasonable to continue to live there.”

Matt Western MP has also called it a ‘humanitarian crisis’ happening in the West Midlands.

According to a study made by the Ministry of Housing, rough sleeping rose by 20% between 2016 and 2017.

Les Caborn, a Warwickshire County Councillor, said in his statement that the Council is delighted to be funding this project, and emphasised the collaborative opportunities with the Warwickshire Cares Better Together Programme, a cooperative initiative between health and social services in the region.

Mr Caborn said: “We need to come together as statutory partners to find a joint solution to this challenge and this funding will strengthen our ability to do that.”

He went on to highlight the 2017 Director of Pubic Health Annual Report, Valuing the Vulnerable, as an important indicator of homelessness in the UK.

Matt Western MP will also be holding a homelessness summit on the 15 March. He has invited mental health and homeless charities, addiction recovery charities, two local authorities, and manufacturers of low cost pre-fabricated modular housing units.