Incredibly concerning
The number of people who are homeless in Nottingham is ‘snowballing’ as more people end up sleeping on the streets.
Kieran Frost has worked for homelessness support charities since 1996. He struggles to recall the last time when he saw so many people spending their nights out in doorways, tiny tents and hidden back alleys. He describes the number of cases in Nottingham as “through the roof”. Framework’s annual street outreach figures show the number of rough sleepers they’re working with has increased by 21 per cent across the last two years – or by more than 100 people – from 604 to 729.
The man reveals his face, wrapped up in a big coat and hat. He doesn’t speak much English but he manages to tell the team he has been rough sleeping for two nights. He is 28 years old.Kieran asks the man to call the team’s phone number at 11am when they will speak to him alongside a translator and try to get him some help.Since Brexit, he says the charity is seeing far fewer Europeans but more people are appearing from non-European countries.
The next person on the list to check is said to be sleeping in a car park on Stoney Street, but there is no sign of him in the stairwell or parking areas.“I’ve not eaten since yesterday morning”, he says. “Do you know where I can get a breakfast? Emmanuel House is closed today.” Kieran says two of the rough sleepers we’ve seen today have flats – “but they can’t cope with the responsibility of running that flat or they haven’t got the income to live”, he says.“The cost of living crisis is making things worse. It’s a perfect storm.“It gets worse year by year. I don’t know what the future is really.“The hostels provide a valuable service but it’s not necessarily the best environment for people. There’s been a move to smaller hostels which seem to be more successful.
Cllr Toby Neal , portfolio Holder for Housing and Human Resources at Nottingham City Council, says the overspend in its homelessness support budget is on target to hit £3m this year. “Once people are into the system properly then they can get housing benefits and that is paid by the Government. He said he wishes the Government would provide a “proper strategy for dealing with homelessness” instead of “us competing with Leicester or Derby for an ever increasingly smaller pot of money”.
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