Council pledges to step up action on homelessness

The leader of Tewkesbury Borough Council said rough sleeping "is not a lifestyle choice"

Being homelessness is not a "choice", a council leader has said as his local authority pledged to step up efforts to tackle homelessness.

Tewkesbury Borough Council will be concentrating its efforts from now until 2030 on tackling the issue, to help those directly affected as well as the wider community.

Council leaders said they will prioritise social rented homes and other ways of meeting residents' needs, as well as finding options to reduce the use of hotels and bed and breakfasts for temporary accommodation.

“If someone is rough sleeping, that is not a lifestyle choice," councillor Richard Stanley said.

“It’s on us as an authority to do all that we can", he added.

He was responding to comments by Conservative councillor Paul McLain in a council debate on 15 May, when he said rough sleeping would "never" be eradicated.

Civic chiefs will work to ensure rough sleeping in the borough is rare, brief and non-recurrent, by reacting quickly to people's whilst increasing the supply of appropriate affordable housing, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS)said.

The pledge includes finishing action plans for every property in the borough which has been empty for more than two years.

The council will also work to ensure properties are safe and free from significant health risks, like damp and mould.

It will also explore possible development sites for affordable housing in rural areas.

Mr McLain said the council needs to be realistic when tackling homelessness.

He also said people have the “absolute right” to choose to be rough sleepers.

“Rough sleeping, we will never eradicate it,” he said.

“We are right to put all our powers into it but we will never eradicate it because we have to accept that for some, it is their absolute right, their choice to remain rough sleepers."