North East charity urging government to do more to tackle homelessness
Recent figures suggest a rise in rough sleepers across the region
A North East homelessness charity is urging the government to create a long-term strategy to tackle homelessness once and for all.
It is after recent figures suggest there has been rise in rough sleepers across the North East and Teesside by nearly 40% compared to the previous year.
In a single night snapshot in autumn last year, there were nearly 130 people sleeping rough across the region. The figure has more than doubled over the last two years.
Ruth Parker, Chief Executive of Emmaus North East, said: "Pretty harrowing picture and demonstrates the lack of investment in the country and tackling this issue over many years. It is an issue of national shame and something that needs to change with a longer-term strategy and plan.
"These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg in relation to rough sleeping and don't take into account people who are sofa surfing, those people who are in cafes or elsewhere, when the data shot is taken on the one night in the autumn.
"There's a complete lack of social housing and decent, affordable homes for people. I think the impact felt from the cost-of-living crisis are very much still being felt now, with the lack of employment opportunities and people who are living in poverty.
"233 million has been announced by the government that is going to be invested in homelessness. I'm interested in how much of that will come to the North East and more importantly how that's going to be used."