AN ORGANISATION which provides support for homeless young people in the county is calling for Herefordshire Council to reverse proposals to cut funding to the service.

SHYPP, the Supported Housing for Young People Project, says Herefordshire Council is consulting with it about possible cuts of 66 per cent.

The organisation says that if the cuts go ahead, it will signal the end of all support to young people struggling in their own tenancies, the end of support to young, vulnerable parents and the end of any crisis intervention work taking place to help young people return home or find alternatives to being homeless.

Cuts last year had led to the end of the homeless prevention project SHYPP had run in schools – but the latest cuts go much deeper.

Sam Pratley, managing director of WM Homes, which runs SHYPP, said: “We are especially concerned about cuts leading to the increased use of inappropriate temporary accommodation in poorly adapted bed and breakfast accommodation placing already very vulnerable people more at risk without any support.

“Removing support for young people will not only lead to increased homelessness and tenancy failure but remove the safety net that SHYPP have provided for years to prevent them from becoming more vulnerable or becoming a risk to themselves or their local community.

“With rural services already hard to deliver and other crucial services like CAB being cut, access to advice and support for vulnerable people in our county will disappear.”

He added that Herefordshire has very low levels of unemployment amongst young people but has astronomically high house prices compared to average earnings, high rental prices and a huge shortage of affordable accommodation.

The organisation is asking people to show their support by signing their petition at change.org, which they will present to the key councillor responsible for housing, and to use social media to express their support using the hashtag #SupportSHYPP.

In a statement, Martin Samuels, director for adults and wellbeing at Herefordshire Council, said: “The recent central government spending review saw further reductions in the funding provided to councils, extending the period of austerity.

“In order to ensure the available resources are used in the most effective way possible, so residents receive high quality care to meet their needs, Herefordshire Council is continuing to review the services it commissions and delivers.

“As part of this process, we are reviewing the service delivered within the county by SHYPP.”

He added that the council would ‘engage and consult’ on the future shape of the service with both affected young people and SHYPP ahead of developing any firm proposals.

https://www.change.org/p/cllr-patricia-morgan-support-shypp-to-stop-council-from-cutting-66-of-homelessness-services-to-young-people/c