Shaping the Homelessness Strategy for 2015-2017

Shropshire Council has recently held a consultation event for partner agencies to inform the new Homelessness Strategy for 2015-2017.

The half-day consultation event took place on Tuesday 14 July 2015, with delegates expressing how useful they found the event and their desire to attend similar events in the future.

Shropshire Council’s housing options team deemed it a successful event, providing a range of views to inform the new strategy, which will lay out how the council intends to prevent homelessness in the county over the next two years.

Over 40 delegates from organisations across Shropshire contributed to workshops surrounding the issue of homelessness, and they discussed various challenges and success experienced by their services. It was also discussed how the partners could work together effectively to prevent homelessness, and assist households where homelessness cannot be prevented.

A keynote speech was provided by Peter Smith, from the homelessness charity Homeless Link, with his speech surrounding homelessness prevention.

Laura Davies, neighbourhood services manager from the Shropshire Housing Group, said:

“On a personal level I found the event to be very interactive whilst also being hugely informative. It was a great opportunity to network other agencies and I look forward to continuing our involvement.”

Mal Price, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for regulatory services, said:

“The new homelessness strategy will bring real benefit to the people who need it most and that is fantastic news. With the help of our partner agencies we must continue to provide support and guidance for these individuals. Consultation events are a good way to ensure that this happens.”

The draft of Shropshire Council’s Homelessness Strategy 2015-17 will be made available on the Shropshire Council website for feedback, before the strategy is finalised.