Leader criticised for saying homeless treated 'too well'

Conservative councillor Peter Nutting said homelessness was rising in Shropshire because people were travelling to the county

A council leader has been criticised for appearing to suggest his authority is seeing a rise in homeless people because it treats them "too well".

Peter Nutting made the comment during a debate about Shropshire Council's new housing strategy.

The Conservative said his authority's treatment of the homeless "actually attracts people to the county".

But he later said he meant it was the council's policies that were too good, not the experience of homeless people.

He had been responding to the leader of the Labour group Alan Mosley, who asked a cabinet meeting "how we are going to investigate why Shropshire's homelessness has increased so significantly?".

And he said a council report suggested there appeared to be a "disastrous" increase in the number of homeless households in Shropshire.

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Mr Nutting responded: "The idea that we are not doing anything is nonsense, but the demand has increased.

"It's partly, I believe, because Shropshire does look after homelessness and rough sleepers too well and it actually attracts people to the county because of that."

Mr Mosley said: "The implication was that we were making the situation attractive to homeless and rough sleepers and making it too easy for them, and that certainly is not... what the homeless people are saying to me when they describe the difficulties they are facing."

Mr Nutting denied that was his intention, but added: "If you do a survey of the homeless rough sleepers in Shrewsbury town centre, most of those originate from outside the county."