Decision put off on £1.5m homeless funding

A decision on funding for homeless support organisations in Devon has been postponed

A council has put off making a decision on plans to cut £1.5m of funding for organisations helping homeless people.

Devon County Council (DCC) was due to resolve the controversial issue in December having previously put "a pause on the decision" in August.

The council said the latest delay was "to allow further discussion" as part of the budget setting process.

A homeless charity said it appreciated the "enormous financial pressures" the council was under.

Si Johns from Exeter YMCA said the decision to extend funding was encouraging

The council previously said it provided the money despite not having "a statutory responsibility to do so" and needed to balance the books.

The £1.5m annual funding is shared between five service providers and could result in the closure of five homeless hostel services across the county and a service that works with people to prevent them falling into homelessness.

Si Johns is joint CEO of YMCA Exeter which receives about £159,000 from DCC to provide accommodation and support for homeless people.

He said he was encouraged by the extension of funding for another three months.

He said: "It would appear that they've really listened to the people's voice on wanting to continue this essential funding for homelessness services across all of Devon.

"The entire contract of £1.5m sounds like a huge amount of money but actually the amount of money that it saves by putting those services in place is probably 10 times that amount."

The latest government figures showed that in the autumn of 2022 there were thought to be 69 people sleeping rough in the area covered by Devon County Council - excluding Plymouth and Torbay.

St Petrock's charity helps homeless people in Exeter.

A report on preventing homelessness by Exeter City Council said the number of people sleeping on the street was "the tip of the iceberg".

Compared to the 22 people sleeping rough in Exeter, the report said there were more than 600 households who were homeless in Exeter in temporary accommodation, homelessness hostels and bed and breakfasts.

St Petrock's charity in Exeter is not a recipient of the funding but its director, Peter Stephenson, has worked with the Exeter Homelessness Forum to lobby the council.

Mr Stephenson said: "If the funding is removed, it would have a devastating impact on homelessness, triggering a surge of rough sleepers in Exeter and have a big impact on the people St Petrock's supports."

Devon County Council said it was under "increasing financial pressures" and wanted to make "informed decisions about the 2024/25 financial year and beyond".

A spokesman said the council hoped to bring new proposals to cabinet in the New Year.