By
Peter Lazenby
Deaths
of homeless people have been branded a “national tragedy” after shock figures
revealed today that the number has leapt by almost a quarter in the last five
years. Almost 600 people sleeping rough or in emergency accommodation died last
year in England and Wales, according to an estimate from the Office for
National Statistics (ONS). This total represents a 24 per cent rise from the
482 who died in 2013, according to the first research of its kind by the ONS.
Jon
Sparkes, chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis, said: “This is nothing
short of a national tragedy, especially when we know that homelessness is not
inevitable. “In one of the world’s wealthiest countries, no-one should be dying
because of homelessness. It’s imperative that governments act now to stop this
tragedy once and for all.” Greg Beales, campaign director at housing charity
Shelter, branded the homeless deaths figures “a source of national shame.” He
said: “There is nothing inevitable about homelessness or about these tragic
deaths, which are a consequence of a housing system which fails too many
people.”
The
charity blamed a “crippling shortage of social housing” as well as a
“threadbare safety net,” calling on the government to change tack to address
the problem. Starkly illustrating the kind of human tragedy that lies behind such
statistics is the case of rough-sleeper, Gareth Cooke, 33, who has created a
“home” beneath a railway bridge in Yorkshire and is fighting business bosses’
demands that he go elsewhere. They complain that his presence is “unsightly.”
He lives under the stone bridge on a main road into the town of Huddersfield,
sleeping on a sofa donated by a well-wisher.
Mr
Cooke is one of about 320,000 people who, Shelter says, will have nowhere to
live this Christmas. And the number is rising steadily. Several local businesses,
including a restaurant, have complained to Kirklees District Council about Mr
Cooke living under the bridge and demanded action to move him. He has also been
visited by the police, who told him to clean up the footpath he lives on.
Mr
Cooke, who has been living rough for 18 months after splitting up with his
wife, told the Star: “The council community support office said there had been
a couple of complaints about me. “But one of the people complaining even
complained about a homeless charity setting up a stall to give homeless people
food. That’s all wrong.” He is surrounded by bric-a-brac and personal
possessions, some of them piled up in a supermarket trolley next to his sofa.
Water runs down the stone archway behind his sofa, but nonetheless he has put
up pictures, posters and Christmas decorations.
A
Christmas stocking hangs on a metal barrier separating his patch of pavement
from the busy road into the town centre. He also uses the barrier to dry his
clothes. He brews tea on a camping stove. Mr Cooke said: “I broke up with my
wife after 15 years. I had a car wash business. I’d been working very long
hours, 14 hours a day. I was tired. My head was not right. We grew apart and
split up. “I had to move out. The house is in both our names, but we have two
kids and I wasn’t going to stitch them up. I moved out and became homeless.”
He
receives no benefits and does not drink or take drugs. “I miss appointments
because I get depressed, anxiety or I forget,” he said. Mr Cooke told a local
newspaper that he feared he would soon have to leave. One restaurant owner who
complained said: “This is the entrance to Huddersfield town centre and what
kind of impression does this give to anyone arriving in the town?”
The
council has had a meeting to discuss the issue after receiving the complaints
about Mr Cooke’s presence, but it has yet to take action. A spokesperson said:
“Officers from Housing Solutions and their outreach partners are aware of the
person sleeping rough under the railway bridge. “While we do not comment on
individual cases, we do engage with those individuals living on the streets to
provide advice and assistance.” Publication of the homelessness death figures
came a day after MPs were told that a rough-sleeper, 43-year-old Gyula Remes,
had been found dying outside Parliament.
He
was the second homeless person known to have died near the Palace of
Westminster this year, but the ONS statistics show the scale of such deaths
nationwide.
Shadow
housing minister Melanie Onn said: “These figures are utterly shameful and
reflect a complete failure of Conservative policy on housing, which has seen
rough-sleeping skyrocket since 2010. “We are one of the richest countries in
the world and there is no excuse for people dying on our streets.”
Labour
has vowed to provide £100 million to ensure that everyone has shelter when it
becomes dangerously cold. The party has also pledged to end rough sleeping
within five years of taking power. (IPA
Service)
Courtesy:
Morning Star
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