COPELAND has seen a spike in homelessness with the council embroiled in an ongoing “funding battle” to tackle the borough’s spiralling crisis.

The rise comes against a backdrop of funding cuts and controversial changes to the benefits system in an area of west Cumbria consistently ranked among the poorest in England.

The number of households placed in temporary accommodation has almost doubled in recent years - from 23 in 2016 to 40 in 2018 - with a rise in non-EU nationals becoming homeless over the past year.

The shock figures emerged as members of the council’s scrutiny panel considered a report setting out the authority’s response to the issue, now a major problem nationwide.

The council has seen a 99 per cent cut in Government funding in the last five years as austerity continues to bite.

The borough has also seen 20 per cent rise in foodbank usage across the borough, with almost a quarter of the region’s children living in poverty.

Setting out the scale of the problem facing the council, housing chief Amanda Starr said that without help vital from charities and other organisations, the problem would be much worse.

She said: “We cannot deliver this without our partners and if we did not have them onboard, we would see people on the streets.

“Some of the reasons for them being on the streets would be that they are quite challenging, so we need supported accommodation projects like Calderwood to be able to offer not just the roof: the roof isn’t enough.

“We are now about trying to prevent homelessness coming around again – addressing the reasons why people are becoming homeless.”

Officers work hard alongside organisations such as the Whitehaven Foyer, which provides supported accommodation for young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

They also work closely with the Whitehaven Community Trust and Calderwood House, which provides accommodation and support to the over 24s, giving priority to veterans.

And while Copeland doesn’t have the same problems with rough sleeping as urban areas, the report revealed that the region does have a high number of “hidden homeless”, which includes people sofa-surfing and families staying with friends or relatives.

The top three reasons for people finding themselves on the streets include the loss of a private or social tenancy, friends and family being no longer able to accommodate them and relationship breakdowns.

Other factors include domestic abuse, drug addiction and the controversial roll-out of Universal Credit.

The report confirmed that problems with the welfare system, including delays in payments, had put some of the borough’s residents “under significant financial pressure”, sending the most vulnerable spiralling into debt.

Poor accommodation in the private rental sector, including homes that are deemed unfit for people to live in.

And the meeting heard that part of the council’s role is to work with landlords to bring houses up to standard.

Under the strategy, priority cases include people with children, the disabled and those who have health issues that would be exacerbated by being made homeless.

Those who are fleeing harassment and abuse or who have served in the armed services would also automatically go to the top of the council’s list.

Council staff are on call 24-7 to help vulnerable people temporary accommodation until such time as they could be assessed.

Concerns were raised over people discharged from hospital without adequate housing provision and how to stop them falling through the net.

But Ms Starr assured panel members that that hospitals have a legal duty to report to the council if they feel a patient is homeless, at risk of being made homeless or is likely to be returning to unfit accommodation.

Labour councillor Sam Pollen, the authority’s homelessness champion, praised council staff for their hard work and cited ongoing Government austerity as a major factor in the rise.

“How we treat people at their lowest ebb or in a crisis in their lives defines us as a council but we face continued pressure to do more,” he said.

Housing chiefs were asked to provide a breakdown of the borough’s homelessness hotspots and also confirmed that they were now looking at providing more temporary accommodation in Millom and a night shelter for over the winter months.

Copeland, which describes itself as a “compassionate council”, had a long-standing history of supporting homelessness prevention through outside grants.

The report confirmed that the authority is coming under “increasing financial pressure” to deliver services on reduced budgets.

A draft strategy, which the council must produce every five years, will now go to the executive for consideration.

Copeland figures

Households placed in temporary accommodation

2016 – 23

2017 – 26

2018 – 40

Households coming to the council for advice

2016 – 393

2017 – 295

2018 – 541 (following the introduction of Homelessness Reduction Act).

2018 figures

– 401 people were assessed under the Homelessness Reduction Act

Foodbanks

The borough has seen a 20 per cent increase in foodbank usage between 2016 and 2017, with the number of homeless people relying on the service increasing by seven per cent.

Child poverty

In January 2018, 3,368 children were deemed to be in living in child poverty (22.6 per cent of all children in the borough).