The number of people sleeping rough in Southampton has approximately halved in the space of a year, according to figures collected by Southampton City Council (SCC).
Southampton’s annual autumn rough sleeper spot count was undertaken by the council’s Street Homeless Prevention Team during the night of 14th November 2019. The team worked alongside partner agencies, including experienced outreach support workers, to identify people sleeping rough and investigate reported sightings from the public and professionals.
In total, 15 rough sleepers were located, a drop from 29 on the same night in 2018. The count was conducted to guidelines set by Homeless Link, the national membership charity for homelessness and supported housing services, and independently verified.
The annual count is conducted across England, with all local authorities submitting either a verified number or an estimate of rough sleepers to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government. The data from all Hampshire local authorities was collected on the same night.
SCC has been collaborating with other organisations in the city to address rough sleeping for a number of years, and while the count figure supports a national reduction in the number of rough sleepers on our streets, the council has plans to continue to deliver and expand its support services over the next 12 months.
For the third year running, the SCC recently welcomed government funding — £915,120 from the Rough Sleeping Initiative for 2020/21 — to help vulnerable rough sleepers off the city’s streets and into secure accommodation.
The bid for Rough Sleeping Initiative funding was made in conjunction with several local homelessness charities that provide support and accommodation, as well as other health and voluntary agencies. The council’s joint working has further been enhanced by the Street Support Network — a resource which connects people and organisations so that rough sleepers can get help and members of the public can give responsibly.
The new funding will enable the council to continue to provide:
- Outreach work on the city’s streets to identify rough sleepers and encourage them to access support services.
- Emergency beds at two of the city’s hostels.
- Shared accommodation for those ready to move into a long-term home but need ongoing support to manage their tenancy.
- Specialist Navigators who offer one-to-one intensive support to rough sleepers with more complex needs, having struggled in mainstream services in the past.
- Health sessions tailored for people who cannot access traditional health services.
- Rough sleeper and volunteer co-ordinators who make sure services are connected across different sectors and recruit volunteers from the community to enhance the support offering.
Additionally, SCC will use the funding to provide:
- Extra supported lettings provision in Southampton.
- Additional self-contained units as an alternative to hostel living.
- A specialist clinical role to support people with physical and mental health difficulties.
- Some extra intensive support work.
Councillor Satvir Kaur, Cabinet Member for Homes and Culture, said: “As we all know, rough sleeping is a national issue. In Southampton, however, we’ve all joined forces — council services, statutory teams, health care providers and charity organisations — in responding to our moral duty to prevent homelessness and help the most vulnerable members of our community. By delivering more affordable homes and working with city partners to enhance our support services, we have seen a reduction in the number of people living on our streets. But while this is great news, we recognise that there continue to be people out there who need our support, and we look forward to using extra government funding to provide a roof over people’s heads and give them a chance to rebuild their lives.”
Header image ©Belish/AdobeStock.
