The number of people sleeping rough on the Island has fallen, according to the Isle of Wight Council. The local authority says 2019 figures were collected over one night in November last year, as part of government's annual count. During it, 11 people were found to be sleeping rough. That is a 54% fall compared to 2018, when 24 people were recorded as rough sleepers. The local authority says, as of January this year, that number has dropped to five people. Councillor Clare Mosdell, Cabinet member for adult social care, public health and housing needs, says "one person sleeping rough is one too many": "Rough sleeping is the most dangerous form of homelessness; it is dangerous, traumatic, isolating and it kills. "Homelessness is everyone's business but together we can end this. The journey is only just beginning." The council says it has invested more than £70,000 in the former Barton Primary School site in Newport to provide an emergency shelter for those in greatest need. The local authority also introduced the 'Housing First' project in July last year, as previously reported by Isle of Wight Radio. It is designed to help rough sleepers with complex needs get off the streets and into a place they can call home. Last month (February), the council secured £288,700 from the government's rough sleeping initiative. Jamie Brenchley, the council's service manager for housing needs and homelessness, said: "This data release provides the evidence that what we are doing on the Island is working. "There is still much we need to do, but together alongside our partners, we are beginning to make change possible for people that have found themselves with no other options but to sleep rough on our streets." Rough sleeping reduced by 9% nationally and by 4% in the South East.
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