Five rough sleepers living on the streets of Chesterfield

Huw Bowen, chief executive of Chesterfield Borough Council made the comments in a Derbyshire County Council meeting last week.

He said the benefits of extensive works to combat homelessness have already shown their worth.

Dr Bowen said there were five rough in Chesterfield at the last count “and there were a heck of a lot more before the pandemic and at times through the pandemic”.

In the first stage of the pandemic, the Government launched the “Everyone In” initiative which saw councils told to house all rough sleepers in their patch – mostly through long-term hotel stays.

In Chesterfield, this saw the borough council, with the support of charities, accommodate 30 rough sleepers.

In October last year, Lee Pepper, housing options manager at North East Derbyshire District Council, said he expected a “rapid rise in potential homelessness through families affected by Covid, along with furlough, evictions, possessions and Universal Credit”.

At the time, Dr Bowen had said “we are seeing rough sleepers return to the streets in Chesterfield” and that funding from the Government to provide homelessness support was dissipating, placing the burden on financially stretched local councils.

In last week’s meeting, Mr Pepper repeated a plea to create a multi-disciplinary team to tackle the issue, after a Derbyshire programme run during the pandemic showed the idea’s real world potential.

He said “certainly we have had a lot of cases where people have lost their lives because they have fallen through gaps (in services)”, which needed sorting as a priority.

Mr Pepper said: “The cost of living crisis is not going to be a quick blip, it is going to be a lengthy and drawn out problem.”

He said a Derbyshire-wide strategy to tackle it will be needed as soon as possible and that a key part of that is continued funding for Derbyshire Law Centre and advice services.

The Derbyshire programme Mr Pepper referred to is the use of the Mount Cook Adventure Centre in Middleton, near Wirksworth, as a makeshift homelessness shelter during the winter of 2020 into 2021.

That makeshift shelter, while the adventure centre could not legally open, brought together all of the county’s health and social care services into one building to tackle homelessness and support the homeless at the height of the second wave for three and a half months. It supported 91 people during that time.

Mr Pepper had said he wants to see this model made permanent to model the Edwin House project in Nottingham, which provides wraparound support and accommodation for people who require treatment for substance misuse and mental health conditions. Edwin House also has an in-house medically-assisted detox unit, led by specialists.

However, Helen Jones, strategic director of adult social care at the county council, said last week that workforce issues and shortages need to be considered before a multi-disciplinary team to tackle homelessness is commissioned

She says there are already challenges and the workforce needs to grow, this had recently included the authority calling on unqualified council staff to help it run its care homes, due to the impact of Covid absences.

Pathways of Chesterfield is the service for the homeless, and those at risk of homelessness in Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire.

The charity, based at 120 Saltergate in Chesterfield, runs a drop-in service from Monday to Friday between 10am and 3pm and offers food provision on a drop-in basis on Tuesdays between 11am and 1pm.

Its administration staff are available between 9.15 and 5pm, Monday to Friday and can be contacted on 01246 498204.

https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/politics/nearly-4000-derbyshire-homecare-workers-to-receive-ps500-sweetener-in-bid-to-retain-staff-3567831