This evening, Mansfield MP Ben Bradley has met with the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Felicity Buchan MP to discuss the issue of homelessness in Mansfield.
At the top of Ben’s agenda was the recent developments of a hotel in Mansfield kicking out people using the business as temporary accommodation to make space for people who have arrived in the UK via the English Channel. These people then presented to the local council as homeless. Ben has previously raised this issue in the House of Commons to inform the Minister that ‘… they have turfed out residents who were already in there for temporary accommodation and who have presented themselves as homeless. It’s not on, to be honest.’
Also on the agenda for Ben’s meeting was the Homelessness Reduction Act and how this can be used to combat homelessness locally in Mansfield and Warsop. The Homelessness Reduction Act requires local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to help prevent any eligible person who is at risk of homelessness from becoming homeless. This means either helping them to stay in their current accommodation or helping them to find a new place to live. Ben has previously held numerous homeless summit meetings between local businesses, the Police, both the District and County Council as well as churches and charities. He also brought both the Home Secretary and the Minister for Homelessness to Mansfield to see the problems that the homeless community faces locally.
Commenting, Ben stated:
‘It was a real pleasure to meet with the Minister for Housing and Homelessness this evening during her tearoom surgery. It is always good to not only highlight the work that is being done on a local level to combat homelessness, but to push home the importance of government support to allow that vital local work to take place.’
‘At the top of my agenda was the recent announcement of a hotel in Mansfield being used to house those who have arrived over the English Channel. People will know my frustrations surrounding the use of a local hotel and the poor way it was communicated to local stakeholders. It simply is not right to turf out people in temporary accommodation and to essentially make them homeless all over again. I let the Minister know in no uncertain terms how I feel about this series of events.’
‘On a more positive note we also spoke about the work we are doing at a county level to combat homelessness in the whole of Nottinghamshire. I would like to thank the minister for her time and consideration of the points I raised during our meeting. I look forward to working with her and others in government to further tackle homelessness.’
