Milton Keynes Conservatives pledge to 'end rough sleeping' within 24 months

    The Milton Keynes Conservatives have said that rough sleeping will be 'eradicated in Milton Keynes' within 24 months, if the party is elected at next month's local Council elections.

    The local party say that since 2014 the number of people sleeping rough in Milton Keynes has rapidly increased and that the Council estimate that at any one time up to 100 people could be sleeping rough on the streets.

    Labour Council Leader Cllr Peter Marland has already pledged a bed for every rough sleeper.

    In a statement to MKFM, the leader of the council Peter Marland said ''The budget already contains over £2m for homelessness, including £500k for helping rough sleepers. We are now offering a bed to any homeless person on the street who wants it and putting other support services in place. This is ongoing funding despite ongoing cuts of over £144m to MK Council."

    "The real level of reserves if you discount money put aside for infrastructure projects, money we hold for schools and ring-fenced housing money is around £17m, and dropping below that would put us at risk of becoming like Tory-run Northamptonshire."

    A local Conservative official said: "The Conservative opposition has been a strong critic of the Labour-led Council who have withdrawn funding to organisations working on the front-line, voted against a £2million plan for more support and destroyed the relationship with private sector landlords during their four years running Milton Keynes."

    "The Conservatives have pledged to eradicate rough sleeping by 2020 with a plan to invest an additional £2 million into support for homelessness, support stakeholders such as the YMCA and the Winter Night Shelter offering a real partnership with the Council and work with the Government’s new Rough Sleeping Team to attain targeted funding and specialist advice."

    Leader of the Milton Keynes Conservative Group Cllr Alex Walker said: “We must not shy away from what is the biggest challenge we face as a city. It is nothing short of a scandal in one of the fastest growing places in the UK."

    “It has happened under Labour’s watch and we need to call them out for what is their biggest failing while they have been running Milton Keynes."

    “It is something we need to deal with, with real urgency. We have an ambitious plan to eradicate rough sleeping within 24 months and I am confident we can achieve that.”

    The Conservative Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Housing and Homelessness Cllr Catriona Morris added: "This is an issue Labour should have seen coming. They have reduced funding to organisations working on the front-line, failed to properly engage with Government and created a rough sleeping strategy four years too late."

    "This Labour Council, propped up by the Lib Dems, have stashed more than £50 million into savings and yet at the same time have sat by while people are sleeping rough. They have their priorities all wrong and it really is time for change."

    "We will invest in real solutions, we will work with local partners and with Government, and together we will eradicate rough sleeping in Milton Keynes."

    The announcement came as the Conservatives published their ‘Plan for Milton Keynes’ named ‘Time for Change.’

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