Shropshire is a homelessness hotspot
Monday 11th October 2010, 1:40PM BST.
Shropshire is one of England’s worst hotspots for homelessness, according to a new report.
Data released by local authorities ranks Shropshire as England’s eighth worst authority while Telford & Wrekin is 45th out of 256.
However housing experts today disputed the figures and said their accuracy was in doubt because of the way in which they are calculated.
Local authorities submit estimates to the Government, sometimes based on a head count of the number of people who can be seen sleeping in doorways.
In many parts of the UK, such calculations are impossible and so local experts contend that the Shropshire figure is artificially high when compared against figures from other areas.
They add that the numbers of people reported as homeless in Shropshire, 12, and in Telford & Wrekin, six, are also much too low because the “real” figures are significantly higher.
Today housing expert Steve Watkins, from Telford’s KIP project, said: “I can tell you straight away that the figures for Telford & Wrekin are wrong.
“There are probably a lot more than that but it is incredibly difficult to put a figure on it. It’s almost impossible to count at night, for instance, because the people leave the town centres, like Wellington. ”
See the special report in today’s Shropshire Star
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