Child homelessness reaches a 14 year high

It is nothing less than shameful that there are now nearly 130,000 children living in bed and breakfasts and temporary accommodation in England.

This is 3.1 per cent higher than last year and the figure in the March quarter this year was the highest recorded since 2006.

More than two thirds of people stuck in temporary accommodation have children living with them.

The government brought in its Everyone In scheme at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown; the idea being to get everyone off the streets.

Northumberland County Council's shadow children’s services cabinet member Scott Dickinson said: “Even bearing that in mind, something is going very wrong with housing in this country.

“There are not enough homes being built and more and more people are renting privately with high rents and threats of eviction looming over them.

“Even before Covid-19, economic prospects were looking bleak for many people because of 10 years of cruel Tory cuts.

“With last year's land slide victory and people voting because they thought this government would be on their side, they need to put their money where their mouth is and tackle the dreadful state of housing in the country.

“No child in the fifth richest country in the world should spend their young lives being homeless.

“There are solutions if the political will is there. In Northumberland we are more than willing to work on those solutions. This needs to be about improving life for everyone in our county, especially our young people who, quite frankly, deserve much better than this.”