Nothing more nothing less 10yrs of Local and National Tory policy has led to spike in Northumberland

Spike in rough sleepers

A roof over your head and a bed to sleep in. Most of us take this for granted. But in our county in 2019, 15 people had no roof above their head and no bed to sleep in. They slept rough. In 2018 this figure was zero in Northumberland.

While most people agree that the way we count who's sleeping rough on our streets is not perfect, currently it's the only way we can measure what's happening. It's done by estimating who's sleeping rough on a single night between 1 October and 30 November every year. In a rural county like ours, counting who's sleeping rough is more challenging.

The figure of 15 is more than double the number recorded in any of the years since this way of counting rough sleepers was brought in 10 years ago. And the figures don't take account of sofa surfers; people who've got no home, but rely on the kindness of friends for shelter.

In my view the rise in rough sleepers and a Conservative government is not a coincidence. Since 2010 we have seen the harshest and most cruel changes in welfare; the system that is supposed to act a safety net for people who find themselves without the basics of human life. Remember, homelessness could happen to any of us. A marital breakup, unemployment, the death of parents who were living in social housing

Our council has a strategy to tackle homelessness. It was 'refreshed' last year and will be reviewed at the end of the Conservative council's five year term in 2021. I expect the council is questioning why its rough sleeping numbers have actually gone up, even though they have strategy to tackle it.

The council's head of housing and public protection (the clue's in the job title) Phil Soderquest, tells us the council can't tackle homelessness on its own and they are working with partners.

That might be true but they, as a local authority, should be leading the charge to tackle an issue that simply should not be happening in 2020.