Homelessness remains an urgent issue in Manchester.
Homelessness remains an urgent issue in Manchester, with homeless camps across the city getting bigger, despite the efforts of the city’s flagship ‘a bed every night’ scheme.
The cross-sector, pan-Greater Manchester service aims to provide a bed and personal support for anyone who is sleeping rough or at imminent risk of sleeping rough in Greater Manchester. It’s centred on the philosophy that everyone should have somewhere safe to stay.
Over four years, the programme has contributed to a reduction in rough sleeping of 67 percent. It has supported more than 3,000 people and pioneered improved access to health and housing.
The scheme focuses particularly on those who face exclusion from existing services, including people who are not eligible for statutory accommodation and those who have No Recourse to Public Funds. It helps prevent rough sleeping for people who are at a point of transition, such as leaving hospital or custody.
Manchester City Council supports the scheme and refers people who are sleeping rough to the programme.
But despite its success, homeless camps in Manchester are growing. The city centre has been home to several encampments over the past year. One in St Peter’s Square was evicted on February 26 following a court order obtained by Manchester City Council.
But within hours, new camps were established around the city. The council says activists are buying tents and making the encampments bigger.
Joanna Midgeley, deputy council leader, said residents have tended to be “refugees with legal right to be here.” She added that the situation “remains challenging.”
“It’s not being helped by activists buying tents and making it bigger.
“This is a national issue that’s being played out on the streets of Manchester and across the country,” she said.
More than 200 camp residents had been placed into support accommodation by the council, the deputy leader added, and a further 25 “have been voluntarily connected to other local authorities.”
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester earlier this month, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, expressed his pride in the ‘a bed every night’ programme.
“A bed a night is our flagship scheme,” said Burnham.
“It’s going up to 600 places from the start of April, and I think because of what we do more people come here looking for support.
“It doesn’t mean though, to me, that we should then stop doing what we do.”
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