Brighton council 'dumping' homeless people in Eastbourne

Josh Babarinde, MP for Eastbourne, said that Brighton and Hove City Council are "failing in their duty of care" by housing people in temporary accommodation in the seaside town.

Mr Babarinde raised the issue during a Parliamentary debate, calling the practice "inhumane".

He said: "A scandal has unfolded across our country.

"Homeless people are dumped from one place to another without the proper assistance that they need to address the causes of their homelessness, or other support that could help to get them back on their feet."

"It is inhumane", he added.

Josh Babarinde, MP for Eastbourne, raised the issue in parliament recently (Image: Josh Babarinde)

‘Out-of-area placements’ occur when a local authority puts residents in temporary accommodation in a different local authority area.

Mr Babarinde continued: "Over the last couple of years, out of area placements in Eastbourne have increased fourfold, to the 209 that Eastbourne hosts today.

"Out of area placements now account for 46% of all temporary accommodation placements in Eastbourne, with the majority being from Brighton and Hove City Council."

According to the MP, Brighton and Hove City Council currently has 178 placements in Eastbourne.

Mr Babarinde said: "Tragically, in Eastbourne, we have seen the fatal consequences of this broken system."

He cited the death of a 25-year-old man in January 2023 who had been housed in Eastbourne by Brighton and Hove City Council and was found dead.

An inquiry later found that in the month before his death, no welfare checks had been carried out.

Brighton and Hove City Council say Mr Babarinde's accusations are 'wildly inaccurate and extremely unfair'

In a statement, Mr Babarinde added: "In some cases, out-of-area placements are necessary and appropriate, particularly for survivors of domestic abuse who may need to relocate to ensure their safety.

"However, in the majority of cases, they have become the easiest option for placing authorities - too often becoming 'out of sight, out of mind'.

"Local authorities such as Brighton and Hove City Council are failing in their duty of care by placing residents far from vital support networks."

Councillor Gill Williams defended Brighton and Hove City Council

In response, councillor Gill Williams, Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet member for Housing, said:

“While we very much welcome all debate on the increasing numbers of people finding themselves in temporary accommodation due to the national housing crisis, the claims made against Brighton and Hove City Council are both wildly inaccurate and extremely unfair.

“Like many UK councils, Brighton and Hove is grappling with an unprecedented scale of need. This unhelpful diversion undermines the work our partners and housing teams do to support people in a housing crisis.

“Using such language as ‘dumping’ when talking about people needing our help and support is dehumanising, disrespectful and does nothing to help address the complex issues we’re facing.

“We all care about people experiencing homelessness. We work very hard to prevent people experiencing this scourge on people’s lives and have some of the best figures for prevention in the south-east.

“Despite our outstanding prevention performance, the demand for emergency and temporary accommodation far exceeds the amount available to us in the city, and we have no choice but to use out-of-city emergency placements.

“We prioritise keeping people within Brighton and Hove wherever we can, and work hard to return people in emergency placements back to the city as soon as possible.

“Where we do need to place homeless people out of area, we work closely with our neighbouring local authorities, including Eastbourne Borough Council, and have a team dedicated to supporting people in temporary accommodation.

"They take a risk-based approach to visiting people living in temporary accommodation and monitoring the accommodation provided, and we’ve recently increased the frequency of many of these visits.

“We are doing all we can to increase our council-owned and managed emergency accommodation in the city, as well as increasing the number of council-rented homes through new builds, redevelopment and buying-back homes sold under the Right to Buy.

“We’ve also recently introduced an interim measure to use empty council homes as temporary accommodation to improve the outcomes for people in temporary accommodation and set up a new contract to improve the supply of accommodation available in Brighton and Hove.

"All this co-ordinated effort is helping us to reduce the numbers of people in housing crisis placed outside the area against the increasing service pressures we’re continuing to face.

"We are seeing this reflected in a recent reduction in the number of households placed by us in Eastbourne.”