Medway Council discusses new homelessness strategy

Medway Council’s business scrutiny committee gathered last night to discuss new proposals aimed at tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. The strategy focusses on prevention and on informing people at risk of homelessness on how they can seek help.

However, several Labour councilors expressed disappointment with the strategy. Naushabah Khan said: “The reasons that we have listed for why people become homeless or become at risk of homelessness are often linked to national government changes, so my concern is that it’s great if we’ve got the strategy here in place, however I think there’s a wider issue that I don’t know as a council if we can deal with.”

The strategy is based on a 2018 report into homelessness in Medway, which identifies a lack of affordable housing for one of the main contributors to homelessness. Councillor Teresa Murray criticized the strategy, saying it failed to deal with the lack of affordable homes.

“There doesn’t seem to be any intention by the wider council to take that on board, and change the affordable housing target,” she said.

The council say that affordable housing will be discussed in a separate strategic plan, and senior Conservative councilors praised the new strategy as being effective and comprehensive. 

Under the council’s first homelessness and rough sleeping strategy, launched in 2017, the number of homelessness preventions in Medway increased by a third in one year. The new strategy, which will last until 2024, is likely to be passed by Cabinet next month; councilors will hope that last year’s progress can be maintained.

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