The latest annual rough sleeper count found rough sleeping in East Staffordshire had fallen to zero, following a number of Council commissioned projects seeking to assist rough sleepers to access settled accommodation.
The most recent count was undertaken on the night of 4th November 2020 into the morning of 5th November 2020 and produced a result of zero rough sleepers. The result was verified on the evening by the attendance of a Homeless Link verifier, and has since been adopted by the Office for National Statistics. The count activity was supported by volunteers from 4 separate organisations for additional assurance.
Rough sleeping has seen an impressive decline since peaking in 2017 when the annual count found 16 rough sleepers, and has been driven by a number of factors, including:
- A range of successful projects, which have largely been funded by the MHCLG’s Rough Sleeping Initiative.
- The rise in voluntary and community activity, which has been harnessed by the Burton and East Staffs Homeless Partnership.
- Implementation of the Homeless Reduction Act in April 2018, and the recruitment of a Housing Outreach Officer to strengthen the Council’s Housing Options Team.
- More recently, targeted activity associated with the pandemic, commonly referred to as ‘Everyone In.’
The Council has also been instrumental in assisting in the establishment of the Burton and East Staffs Homeless Partnership which was formed out of a shared commitment to build a more collaborative approach to tackling the issues of homelessness. The Partnership is working effectively with 16 current members from across the range of local services available to homeless people.
Cllr Ray Faulkner, Deputy Leader for Environment and Housing, said:
“I took part in the rough sleeper count in November and experienced the thoroughness of the search first-hand. The result is testament to the success of the collection of initiatives we have been able to commission from local organisations with funding from the MCHLG, together with the work of the Homeless partnership. It’s particularly pleasing to see a reduction in entrenched rough sleeping which is a real marker of success.”