Eastbourne rough sleeper count was ‘wrong’ claims Hastings council leader
According to council leader Peter Chowney, a count of rough sleepers which reported Eastbourne had higher numbers than Hastings was based on faulty assumptions and has since been revised down.
The comments were made at a meeting of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday (January 24), during a discussion about joint funding given to the towns by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Rough Sleeping Prevention Fund.
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Hide AdCllr Chowney said: “I am told that we got this money based on Eastbourne having done a rough sleeper count and deciding they had a rough sleeper problem that was even more serious [than] in Hastings.
“So the bid linked these two together, two seaside towns with a really serious rough sleepers problem.
“Since then Eastbourne have realised they did the count wrong, they haven’t got anywhere near as many rough sleepers as they thought they had.
“We’ve still got the money anyway, so that just means there is more for us to spend which is good news.
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Hide Ad“I heard tales that when they did the count they were counting people who had a bit of a rough night and spent the night on a bench or somebody who had dozed off while his wife was shopping.