Council Commits to Tackling Homelessness
Setting up a new housing team and working to understand the causes of homelessness are just some of the steps Gloucester City Council has taken in its bid to tackle the issue.
At this month’s cabinet meeting councillors will hear how its five year Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy has been working since its launch in 2020, to address homelessness in the city.
The plan sets out three key objectives- prevention: understanding the issues that lead to rough sleeping and supporting those at risk; intervention: supporting those sleeping rough with help tailored to their needs, and recovery: helping people finding homes and rebuilding their lives.
Since its launch several key milestones have been achieved including the appointment of a new Housing Projects and Strategy Team to help deliver the programme.
And Gloucester has played a leading role in the housing response to the Covid-19 pandemic with officers leading countywide partnership governance as well as chairing the Strategic Housing partnership, The Housing Partnership Oversight Group and the Operational Housing cell.
The city council also helped lead a successful bid for £3.8millon from government to support the housing effort throughout the pandemic, including making available 51 units of accommodation across the county.
Officers also secured annual ‘Cold Weather Funds’ which will be used for placements made as a result of severe weather and are working to move homeless people housed in hotels during Covid-19 into appropriate housing.
The Council has supported the development of city centre temporary accommodation for families and with county partners have invested in a leasing scheme run by a local service provider for accommodation for people with low support needs through the private sector.
Councillor Jennie Watkins, Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, said: “We believe that having good quality, safe and secure accommodation is essential and has a significant impact on people’s physical and mental health, family life and general wellbeing. We are working extremely hard in partnership with supporting organisations to address housing needs in Gloucester. This is a challenging and complex area of work but we are fully committed to the challenge and working towards ending homelessness for our residents.”