Each year the Government asks councils to carry out a count of the number of people sleeping rough on a set night in autumn to provide a snapshot of rough sleeping in an area. Between 2018 and 2021 Sandwell has seen the number of people sleeping rough on this night reduce from 14 to 3, a reduction of nearly 78%.

This reduction is due in large part to the wide range of support provided by Sandwell Council to people at risk of or already sleeping rough including help to access accommodation, health provision and other support services. Over the last two years the council has developed a new hub to support people at risk of or already sleeping rough with trained staff helping people address the real causes of homelessness.

The new service is proving to be very successful with 88% of people helped into longer term accommodation remaining in their new home for at least 12 months.

Since the hub was created the council has supported around 100 people who have either slept rough or were at risk of sleeping rough with 60 of these now housed in longer term housing. We continue to support 25 people with emergency and supported housing whilst we work with them to move on to a longer term home.

Councillor Zahoor Ahmed, Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for housing, said:

“We do not want anyone to have to sleep rough in Sandwell and have a team that will respond to any reports of people rough sleeping within the same day. We will always offer emergency accommodation for the same night and will work with the person to come up with a plan to meet their needs. This includes working with them around income, mental health, physical health and substance misuse issues.”

If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough then please visit www.sandwell.gov.uk/roughsleepers and complete the form. Alternatively, you can contact the Rough Sleepers Team by email at rough_sleepers@sandwell.gov.uk or by calling 0121 368 1166 – option 2 during office hours, or out of hours call 0121 569 6883.