West Norfolk Council officially adopts new strategy to tackle homelessness

Councillors have agreed to adopt a new strategy which will aim to end homelessness in our area.

At West Norfolk Council’s full meeting last night, members gave the official seal of approval to a new document titled: ‘Ending homelessness person by person’.

Councils are required to publish strategies such as this every five years, with the new report covering the period from now to 2029.

Cllr Jo Rust outlined its aim at the meeting, stating that it has been drawn up by people with “lived experience” of rough sleeping as well as various partner agencies.

She said the strategy will ensure homeless people are not treated as a “homogeneous group”, but as “individual people”.

Officers used “compassion and care” as well as their “skills” when producing it, Cllr Rust, the authority’s cabinet member for people and communities, said.

The meeting heard that there are currently an average of two people sleeping rough in West Norfolk on any one night, compared to a high of 43 in previous years.

Cllr Rust admitted the strategy does not come with “all the answers” - but Cllr Ben Jones, seconding a motion to approve it, said: “It is horrible to be homeless, so I hope we will all be voting for it.”

The report, which followed an extensive homelessness review in the area, was written in preparation for a worst case scenario of no Government money coming forward.

The borough council’s cabinet had recommended the strategy for approval when it met in September.