News releases

Partnership effort keeps rough sleeping number stable

Partners across the borough have reaffirmed their commitment to tackling homelessness after the number of people sleeping rough in Basingstoke and Deane remained at the same level for the second year in a row. 

Each year the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities asks every local authority to submit the number of people sleeping rough in their area in November. In Basingstoke and Deane the number of people sleeping on the streets has consistently fallen from 26 in 2016 to zero in 2020. 
 
Last year two people were recorded and the number has remained the same this year, thanks to good systems being developed in the borough to help people who experience homelessness receive support so that their experience of homelessness is brief and they get the help they need quickly.
 
This year’s figure was agreed by members of the Basingstoke and Deane Social Inclusion Partnership, which is a coalition of statutory services, commissioned housing providers, voluntary and faith-based groups and those with lived experience.
 
It follows Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council being awarded £653,118 from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Rough Sleeper Initiative fund to continue providing specialist services to end rough sleeping on the borough’s streets by 2024. 
 
The funding, which will now deliver a three-year programme, will support the council’s innovative approach with partners through social inclusion partnership who have been working together since 2015 to reduce homelessness and address the causes of homelessness with a shared vision.
 
The council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration Cllr Samuel Carr said: “Last year we saw a small increase in the number of people sleeping on our streets and thanks to the combined efforts of the partnership, we have prevented a further increase by developing a good system to help people who experience homelessness to find and move to housing with minimal delays. 
 
“Two people sleeping on our streets is still two too many and our goal is to end rough sleeping in the borough by 2024. This is an enormous challenge but the social inclusion partnership in the borough has a track record of hard work, innovation, expertise and commitment which has made a huge difference across Basingstoke and Deane and will continue to do so.
 
“Rough sleeping and the causes of rough sleeping are complex and it is important that, in addition to helping people into accommodation, we address the deeper issues and ensure that support is available for people looking for a life away from the streets. We continue to work closely with rough sleepers to provide the individual and tailored support that they need to come off and stay off the streets and the recent funding from government will support us in doing this.

“I would like to thank everyone who continues to work with us to build on our successes and find new solutions to meet the needs of our most vulnerable residents and end rough sleeping in the borough.”

For more information on the work of the Basingstoke and Deane Social Inclusion Partnership to tackle homelessness in the borough visit www.realchangebasingstoke.org.uk or follow @realchangebas on Facebook or Twitter.