At last month’s full council meeting, Cllr. Steven Bletsoe (Ind, Bridgend Central) asked for information on the number of rough sleepers in Bridgend county.
Having spoken with organisations working with rough sleepers, it was claimed that rough-sleeper statistics are inaccurate leading to underestimates.
Figures given by BCBC and the Welsh Government have ranged from between 3 to 8 rough sleepers per month, but it’s clear from frontline workers that there are far more out there on the street than are being formally recorded.
“Since the full council meeting in July, I have been further approached in confidence by a person who works on the front line with those sleeping rough in our Borough who states that the true figure is vastly in excess of the figures being publicly stated….they were extremely angry to hear the figure of three being offered as a correct and official one.
“I (would like a) satisfactory answer as to why figures are extremely wide of the actual figure being experienced by those who are working with those who are working on the front line.”
– Cllr. Steven Bletsoe
Following further discussions between Cllr. Bletsoe, Bridgend Council and the Welsh Government, it’s been revealed that the statistics are apparently little more than a guess.
A Welsh Government statistician told Cllr. Bletsoe that:
“….we do not expect a one-night count where someone goes out around the area and collects data (like in the annual rough sleeper report which has been suspended the last couple of years), the data is based on local intelligence which tends to be from the police and local charities. I cannot speak for what Bridgend does specifically but it will be something along these lines.”
– Welsh Government statistician.
If the intelligence on the number of rough sleepers comes from homelessness charities (in part), then why are Bridgend Council’s figures so different compared to the figures given to councillors by those same charities?
The reason given to Cllr. Bletsoe by Council Leader, Cllr. Huw David (Lab, Pyle, Kenfig Hill & Cefn Cribwr), is that: “(Rough sleeper) figures are an indicator as to the amount of rough sleepers who may be bedding down at any one time. The table also indicates how transient this cohort can be.”
The fact rough sleepers may not stay in the same place for a long time will naturally make things difficult when trying to accurately count them. That said, how can any council or the Welsh Government effectively deal with the issue of rough sleeping if they don’t even know how many rough sleepers there are?
