City region mayor Dan Jarvis vows to tackle "deeply concerning" rise in homelessness

Mr Jarvis chaired a summit in Rotherham last month which brought together council figures, charity reps, housing agency officials and people who have experienced homelessness to share examples of what works, establish what measures are currently in place and identify gaps that need filling.

“I think we all agree that it’s completely unacceptable that there are people homeless in this day and age,” he said.

“In our region, there are 700 people in temporary accommodation.

“The official figures show there are 100 sleeping rough but I think that figure is actually much higher.

“That’s deeply concerning. This is an urgent situation. The figures are going up and I don’t see them going down any time soon unless we can put in place a system that would provide a good level of support.”

Mr Jarvis said he had no doubt government policies like welfare system changes — including the rollout of Universal Credit — had directly contributed to a rise in homelessness, but said he was “less interested in pointing the finger of blame than in finding something we can do to prevent the numbers increasing”.

The mayor said it had been “extremely valuable” to hear directly from those who had been homeless, adding: “When you listen to people’s experiences it does inspire you to get on with work to improve their lives.

“We can only begin to imagine what it is like to be out in the cold.

“We all want to get to a place where we can end homelessness and the setting-up of a stronger network is a strong way we can work towards this.”

The mayor said last month’s summit, which took place at the New York Stadium, was about “drawing together all the good work that is being done across the region".

He added: “There are impressive things taking place but in isolation and the purpose was to bring people together and put in place a more formal framework.

“There are a lot of reasons why people become homeless but the scary thing is the number of people who are only one bill away from being in a position where they lose their home - that’s a very significant number of people.

“There’s an awareness within national government that mayoral combined authorities can provide a central point where we can work closely with local authorities and the voluntary sector to put in place a system to tackle this.

“National government is aware they need to do more and it is a team effort.”

Mr Jarvis said the next step was commissioning a study which would assess how current resources are allocated and where further cash could be spent wisely.

“We need to see what we can provide and deliver with the services that exist,” he said.

“Local authorities are short on resources and we have to ensure we’re spending what we have in the best way, especially if we’re going to the government and saying: ‘This is not enough.’”

Last month, the Advertiser reported that 354 households were across the borough were classed as homeless — up from 132 six months ago, with two rough sleepers recorded during an official Government snapshot 12 months ago.

Rotherham Borough Council, which arranges temporary accommodation for people losing their home, said it was considering investing in shipping container-style “pods” to accommodate those with nowhere else to go.

The council’s new homelessness strategy is expected to go before its cabinet in February.