Proposed homelessness help cut 'worrying' - charity

Newcastle City Council needs to find £15.4m worth of cuts for its 2024/2025 budget

The head of a homelessness charity says proposed plans to cut the number of beds for rough sleepers in Newcastle are concerning.

Newcastle City Council needs to find £15.4m worth of cuts for its 2024/2025 budget.

One proposed plan is to cut the local authority’s homelessness budget by 50%, which means reducing the number of beds it offers rough sleepers.

The council said that no firm decisions around its budget have been made yet.

'Worsened health conditions'

Head of homelessness charity Changing Lives Stephen Bell said: “Why destroy something which doesn’t cost a lot of money?

“For me, it’s like 20 years worth of work [that] could be really undone in a matter of months."

The council is proposing to cut the amount it spends on homelessness prevention contracts from £3,289,091 per year to £1,644,546 from October 2024 onwards.

A report produced by the council about the potential impact of such a cut said that a reduction in bed spaces would leave people vulnerable to "worsened health conditions as more people are faced with rough sleeping".

Over the last year, the number of people rough sleeping in Newcastle has increased from an average of six per night to 14, the report added.

'No decisions made'

A council spokesperson said: “We are in the process of consulting on several budget proposals for 2024/25, one of which relates to a reduction of spend on the services we buy from external providers.

“We absolutely understand the potential impact all our proposals have on the people we support.

"No decisions have yet been made around access to the services or the numbers of beds available, but we have already spoken with our homeless providers as we want to work with them to safely implement any changes this proposal will have on the way we currently support people who are homeless."