Northampton councillors to urge MPs to lobby for homelessness funding after successful approach during lockdown

Government funding has helped Northampton Borough Council to adopt a ‘Housing First’ policy for its rough sleepers during the coronavirus pandemic by putting homeless people up at hotels and available accommodation.

An overview and scrutiny committee had recommended the authority move to a Housing First model prior to the pandemic. The model puts a roof over rough sleepers heads without any conditions on whether they are eligible or seeking treatment for any health issues they may have .

The health crisis has given the authority a sneak peek at how it could work in practice, and the results appear to have been impressive enough for councillors to back a motion which called on the MPs to lobby the Government to continue the funding after the pandemic has finished.

The motion, from Labour councillor Zoe Smith, received cross-party support at the latest virtual full council meeting on Monday June 15.

Her motion stated: “The continuation of this strategy in its current form requires the continued input of the MHCLG Rough Sleeping Initiative funding. It is vital that the Government continue to provide this funding, as its loss or reduction would have a detrimental impact on NBC’s ability to continue to deliver, develop and grow this strategy.”

The Conservative cabinet member for housing and wellbeing, Councillor Stephen Hibbert, thanked the Labour councillor for her motion, and outlined how the approach during lockdown had proved beneficial for its participants.

He said: “I would also like to express how pleasing and heartwarming it is to see the guests themselves in the hotels respond and actively seek to turn around their lives, and we won’t abandon them in those efforts.

“There’s one elderly gentleman who has been on and off the streets for many years. He’s been in the hotels and he’s made a phenomenal effort. It might seem a small thing to others, but one of the things that has helped him is access to a TV set . We’ve found him a council let and I think it will be a really good start for him.”

He added: “We hold weekly telephone meetings with MHCLG and we have a good relationship with the Conservative MPs. We will continue to lobby them and are happy to support this motion.”

Summing up the motion, Councillor Smith added: “We need to not fall backwards on the progress that has been made and that we actually keep powering forward to eliminate rough sleeping in Northampton and empower people to make that step forward themselves.”