Bed poverty sees Wolverhampton children sleeping on floor

The council said it had given out 1,279 beds across the city, with 895 going to children

Almost 900 beds have had to be given to children in Wolverhampton as families struggle to afford them in the cost-of-living crisis, the council says.

Children have been arriving at school in the city having slept on the floor, or without a duvet or pillows, councillor Chris Burden explained.

He added the council had realised the "desperate" situation based on requests from families at its community shops.

Mr Burden said the issue was widespread but the authority was aware.

"It's not a distinctly Wolverhampton problem," the Labour cabinet member for education and skills told BBC WM. "We're just the first ones to be talking about it."

He said: "I notice [in] my role... there are children coming to school who have not slept in a bed the night before.

"There are children coming to school who have not had duvet covers, pillows, or a mattress, and they are having to get through their life sleeping on the floor because of poverty within the household."

City of Wolverhampton Council is to discuss efforts to "break cycles of poverty in the city for generations to come" on Wednesday evening, saying tackling food and fuel poverty has been its main priority along with providing warm spaces, essential goods and dealing with "bed poverty".

People in the city using the five community shops, partly funded by the council, have asked for bed frames, mattresses, sheets, cots and cribs, Mr Burden said.

"If this is happening here, it's happening in so many places," Mr Burden said

Mr Burden said: "Since then, we've set up our beds programme, we've already given out 1,279 beds across the city - [in] a population of 260,000. [A total of] 895 of those beds were for children because we had situations where parents and children share in a room, so there's only heating on in one, and all share in a bed together; children without duvets, children going cold."

He added: "If this is happening here, it's happening in so many places."

From April, some groups - including the elderly and means-tested households - will receive payments to help with energy costs.

Two payments totalling £650 have been made to more than eight million low-income households and everyone's energy bill is also being cut by at least £400 this winter.

Councils in England will also get further funds to help vulnerable households from the start of April.