Had a very interesting meeting with Cllr Andrew Lord who has an MBE for his services to homeless people.
He told me that Wiltshire and Swindon has a long honourable tradition of being very supportive to homeless and street homeless people. This has been achieved through partnership between the police, local authorities and the charitable sector. Excellent.
But homelessness is on the increase nationally. Also neighbouring authorities are reducing funding for homeless services as government funding to local authorities is being squeezed.
And to make it worse, street homelessness is now being criminalised by our PCC Phillip Wilkinson’s Conservative friends and colleagues in government. The previous Conservative Home Secretary even said that homelessness is a lifestyle choice!
Under the new Criminal Justice Act 2024 ‘nuisance’ rough sleeping is becoming a criminal offence. According to the bill you can be arrested, fined, or imprisoned if you are sleeping in a doorway, if you have “excessive smell” or if you look like you are intending to sleep on the streets.
So I will be asking what measures are being put in place, led by the PCC, to avoid the criminalisation of homeless people in Wiltshire and Swindon. What is being put in place to maintain the previous support for the homeless. I was responsible for commissioning homelessness services in Hampshire for many years and I know that many homeless people are vulnerable and need support not prison.
Homelessness, as someone said, should be rare, brief, and not recurring.