Benefits change blamed for rise of almost 200 in Telford's homeless total

The information was given at the borough council's scrutiny management board by deputy leader Councillor Richard Overton, who expressed his concern about the issue.

Councillor Overton claims the reason people have been declared homeless is due to changes in the benefits system made by the Government and not housing supply.

He said at the meeting at Addenbrooke House in Telford town centre that 194 people have been declared homeless in the borough since January.

Councillor Overton said: "The thing about homelessness is it is quite high for people aged 18 to 24, and it is just going to increase. That will not be down to housing supply, that is about people being able to access the correct benefits to get the housing and that is down to the current Government's changes.

"The number of people shown to be homeless across the UK is about 2,700 last year and that figure is just going to rise – people need to access the correct benefits.

"So far this year, this council has had 194 declarations of homelessness and it is vital that we look at this. This is not about the number of houses available, as that is out there, it is about accessing the funding to live."

This comes after the Labour Party called on the Government to introduce new laws, which will stop people declaring they are homeless. The party's shadow housing and planning secretary, John Healey, backed calls by the charity Crisis to legislate to compel local authorities to offer a greater duty of care.

Mr Healey said: "The Government must now re-think the multi-billion pound cuts to housing and homelessness support which are set to bite during this Parliament. As this important report shows, the legal protections for homeless people in England are not good enough."