Rough sleeper count in Birmingham

The annual count which is required by government was conducted between the hours of midnight and 4am by 50 volunteers from a range of partners including members and officers from Birmingham City Council, Public Health, Clinical Commissioning Groups, Shelter, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust Trident, Salvation Army, Crisis, West Midlands Police, Poppy Factory, St Basils and YMCA.

Councillor Sharon Thompson Cabinet Member for Housing and Homes said: “It was great to see so many volunteers passionate about rough sleeping in Birmingham continuing to work together. The count is a useful guide for identifying trends and areas for improving services and policy both nationally and locally.

“However, while it is vital that we provide temporary shelter for rough sleepers, we need to have permanent, affordable housing with properly funded health and recovery-based services. Only this way can we break this dreadful cycle of homelessness.

“A good example of this is our Housing First programme; Birmingham City Council let its first tenancy as part of this programme so this is one individual successfully housed who would otherwise have been sleeping on the streets.

“I would also ask government to look at how its policies across departments may be contributing towards the national homelessness crisis.”

Figures for the rough sleeper count are sent by all local authorities to the Department for Local Government and Communities.