Council outlines plans to end rough sleeping

The local authority has set out eight priorities to contribute to London mayor Boris Johnson’s target of ending rough sleeping in the capital by the 2012 Olympic Games.

These include reducing anti-social behaviour associated with rough sleeping, addressing worklessness and finding solutions to issues that lead to economic migrants living on the streets of London.

Daniel Astaire, cabinet member for society, families and adult services, said: ‘By 2012 we aim to ensure that there will be nobody using the streets as a place to live for periods of months or years.

‘Anyone who is on the streets is putting themselves at risk and along with our partners, we will continue to work very hard to prevent vulnerable people from becoming entrenched rough sleepers in the first place.

‘We want to get people off the street as quickly as possible and into accommodation, where they can start to rebuild their lives.’

Westminster has the highest concentration of people sleeping on the streets in England and Wales and met with 2,172 rough sleepers in 2008/09.

Its strategy for the next three years was drawn up in partnership with the police and NHS and includes pledges to: 

• Work assertively to target services and improve the health of the most entrenched rough sleepers; 
• Pursue policies that will contribute to a reduction in rough sleeping amongst all foreign nationals without recourse to public funds;
• Increase direct involvement from rough sleepers across all services to find creative solutions to complex problems.

The council intends to monitor its progress regularly, including through monthly performance plans, and quarterly reports from rough sleeping services.

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