Over the past five years, Labour-controlled Stoke-on-Trent has consistently been among the local authorities with the best record for tackling and preventing homelessness. This success has been achieved through the introduction of measures including opening a Homelessness Hub to support over 900 people every month, creating 74 new bed spaces for rough sleepers and improving physical and mental health services for vulnerable people.
The growing problem of rough sleeping
Although the council has taken a proactive approach with investment in support services, levels of homelessness in the city remain high. In 2023/24 it received 3007 enquiries about homelessness, a rise of 28% from the previous year, and that year the city’s homelessness outreach service was supporting 44 individuals, 30 of whom were identified as ‘long-term’ rough sleepers.
These figures were included in a report prepared for the council in autumn 2024 that emphasised the need for supported housing and assistance with issues such as addiction to help people get off the streets.
Speaking to the local media in October last year, council cabinet member for housing and planning Chris Robinson said although the city had made some “really positive progress” around tackling homelessness, levels were continuing to rise in line with national trends.
The findings of the report would, he said, be used to “develop new and innovative approaches to preventing and relieving homelessness” in the city, and the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025-2030 has been developed following a review and public consultation on the issue.
Future plans for homelessness intervention
Over the next five years the council will raise the priority of preventing homelessness in the city through introducing ‘robust’ support pathways for people in crisis situations together with early interventions for groups deemed to be particularly at risk of becoming homeless, including veterans, care leavers and single-parent families.
The strategy will also focus on finding new ways of utilising existing accommodation in the city through, for example, bringing empty homes back into use.
Speaking about the new strategy, Chris Robinson said homelessness was a “complex issue: it reaches far beyond a simple lack of housing”, adding that although the council has a strong track record of taking action, the strategy does not “shy away” from the many challenges the city faces.
The council would, he said, “continue to work with our trusted partners to ensure fewer people are sleeping rough on our streets. Together, it is our responsibility to support our most vulnerable residents and drive down homelessness in the city.”
Homelessness: a major national problem not going away
Data produced by the UK government shows that in March 2024, 37,610 households in England were at risk of homelessness, including 6,640 who were being evicted from rented accommodation, having been served a Section 21 notice; a modest decrease of 1.9% from the previous year. There had also been an annual decline in homelessness of 7.9%, with16,430 households lacking housing.
However, for the same period, the figure of 131,140 households in temporary accommodation shows a rise of 12.0%, while 3,870 households with children were in B&B-type accommodation.
The 2024 statistics for other home nations were also very concerning: 13,689 households in Wales requiring support between April and September 2024, and 10,932 people living in temporary accommodation. Local authorities in Scotland received 40,685 applications for homelessness support in 2023/24 – the most since 2012/13 – and in response the Scottish government has declared a ‘homelessness emergency’.An IPSOS poll carried out late last year found that more than half of the people questioned believed that homelessness would always be a significant problem in the UK, and 70% of respondents did not think enough was being done by local and national authorities to support people living on the streets.
