There are many  reasons why people sleep out on the streets, and they are complex.  We are fortunate in the borough as we rarely record more than ten rough sleepers at any one time.  The council has a multi-agency approach to addressing rough sleeping involving the police, the council, the NHS and the voluntary sector.

The first service to contact if anyone comes across a rough sleeper is StreetLink. This is a cross-London service that records all rough sleepers to ensure a co-ordinated and informed response as a rough sleeper may move between boroughs.

Following a report to StreetLink, new rough sleepers will be offered a space in the No Second Night Out Hub run by St Mungos Broadway, if they have room. St Mungos will continue to work with them to try to resolve the rough sleeping.

Sutton Council also operates a special local outreach project in conjunction with Kingston and Merton called SPEAR (Single Person Emergency Accommodation and Resettlement Service). This is an early intervention approach seeking to address the complex issues that lead to rough sleeping. SPEAR also has access to emergency accommodation.

A Severe Weather Emergency Provision comes into force when the overnight temperature is below zero degrees for three consecutive nights, which places rough sleepers into emergency bed & breakfast accommodation until the temperature rises above zero.

There are also voluntary organisations in the borough that offer support for rough sleepers.

Sutton Community Works is a Christian charity of 15 churches in the London Borough of Sutton working together. Their initiatives include the Street Pastors who will identify rough sleepers on their late night patrols, alerting, and signposting to appropriate agencies, and providing food and sleeping bags where appropriate. Sutton Community Works also run the Sutton Foodbank, providing emergency food to clients, including to individuals sleeping rough.

Sutton Salvation Army also welcome rough sleepers in the borough and will give advice with signposting to appropriate services.  They can also provide hot snacks and hot drinks, internet access, emergency phone calls and hosts the Foodbank each week.  They also have basic shower facilities that the homeless can use.

Sutton Nightwatch is a voluntary group more recently establishing themselves in the borough and provides hot food and signposting to relevant support from their current base behind Sutton railway station.

Emmaus provides accommodation and work for ex-rough sleepers offering a supportive community so they can rebuild their lives.

The council then uses its multi-agency team to co-ordinate all this work. The group meets monthly to share information and a plan of action is agreed for each rough sleeper. The group is chaired by Encompass – the Council’s Housing and Support Service, and is attended by representatives from the police, the Salvation Army, StreetLink, St Mungos, Sutton Community Works, Mental Health, Drug Services, Adult Social Care, DWP, CAB, SPEAR and Thames Reach Supported Housing.

A key part of the multi-agency approach is to avoid creating dependency for rough sleepers and facilitating this lifestyle. The aim is to provide the specialist support and help needed to move people out of rough sleeping.

As part of the broader issue the council is acting to increase the amount of temporary accommodation available for people finding themselves homeless. It recently agreed a programme of property acquisition to address the lack of supply, and to try to offer as much accommodation within, or close to the borough as possible. This is on the understanding that this helps families retain their employment, education and support networks until they can secure a more permanent address.