Number of homeless and people sleeping rough in Scarborough more than doubles during pandemic

At its peak, more than 100 households were placed in temporary accommodation in the borough as part of a national drive to “get everyone in” off the streets.

Scarborough Council’s cabinet agreed to a number of measures to continue to provide accommodation and support for people in need.

The councillors agreed to extend a contract with Wheelhouse Ventures to provide hotel rooms to accommodate homeless people and rough sleepers for a further six months at a cost of £250,000.

The council will also work with North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) to develop a new supported housing facility in the borough as well as signing a new joint commissioning arrangement with NYCC to create a specialist support service for rough sleepers that will provide “wrap-around support” for around 30 people at locations including Newburn House in Alma Square.

A report prepared for the cabinet outlined the impact the pandemic has had on the situation in the borough.

It stated: “Issues around homelessness and rough sleeping have been amplified during the Covid-19 crisis.

"Numbers in temporary accommodation dramatically escalated as a consequence of the Government’s directives around rough sleeping and single homelessness.

“Numbers accommodated by the council doubled over a four week period.

"As at the end of April, 100 households were in temporary accommodation, necessitating the ‘block booking’ of hotels to demand the unprecedented increase in demand.

“This increase in demand was in the main due to the accommodating of single homeless people and rough sleepers, a number of whom the council had no legal duty to accommodate under legislation.

“Of those accommodated, 42 were identified as either sleeping rough or had a history of rough sleeping and of these 30 have been assessed as having the ‘highest support needs’.”

A number of these people had a history of drug and alcohol abuse or poor mental and physical health, it added.

As of September, the number of households in temporary accommodation had dropped to 61, with 18, mostly single homeless men, accommodated in hotel placements.

The council’s cabinet member for stronger communities and housing Cllr Carl Maw said providing someone with a “chaotic” lifestyle a roof over their heads was not enough as it just “sent them round in circles”.

He added: “[These measures] go some way to start providing some support to these people.”

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