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HOMELESS SWEPT AWAY 'LIKE TRASH'
Council’s ‘move them on’ policy massages street stats
THE homeless have hit out at council tactics of sweeping them off the streets hours before official counts.
The tactics – including issuing one-way bus tickets to Chelsea and alleged harassment by police – are being used to massage figures, it is claimed.
The council this week celebrated figures showing just 92 rough sleepers in Westminster – down from more than 200 three years ago.
But experts working on the streets say the numbers are wrong.
Richard Burnett, who set up The Pavement – the free magazine for the homeless – said: “People think this kind of thing is acceptable, but if they are doing something illegal why don’t they arrest them? The policy is not to find other accommodation, it is just to move them, anywhere, before the counts. We are not casting doubt on the professionalism of the police – just how and why they are involved.”
He added: “We regularly hear of rough sleepers being harassed and have evidence that police are being used as the strong arm of the council.”
Jack Tafari, co-ordinator of the Homeless Front UK representing London’s homeless, said: “They said it would be better if we moved south of the river and that if we did not we could expect to be routinely disturbed.”
Roy Bidamour, who sleeps in Victoria and Mayfair, said: “We are worried and confused. We are being threatened and harassed.”
Steve Barnes, of Thames Reach Bondway, said: “The council’s Task and Targeting meetings is where a lot of decisions are made and its agenda is very much about moving people on.”
The reports follow claims from council leader Sir Simon Milton that the number of street sleepers had halved in three years.
Sir Simon told delegates to the conference at the London Stock Exchange: “Three years ago there were more people sleeping rough in Westminster than in all of the rest of England’s local authority areas put together. By taking local action, we’ve managed to halve that number.”
A council spokesman said: “The council uses verified independent supervisors for the count.”
A Westminster police spokesman said: “Officers from this small team based in Charing Cross go out on duty at all hours to check on the welfare of people sleeping rough on the streets. The aim is to prevent crime. We refute the suggestion that officers tell homeless people to sleep elsewhere.” |
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