BOROUGH chiefs have unveiled a strategy to help prevent homelessness ahead of new legislation which gives councils more responsibility to tackle the problem.

Cheshire East Council will launch a public consultation on Monday, October 16, for its new homelessness strategy, which details the council’s vision for improving the lives of the borough’s most vulnerable residents.

The four-year strategy aims to help homeless people secure appropriate accommodation, enable more people to remain in their home to prevent them becoming homeless, provide interventions so nobody has to sleep rough, and ensure that support is in place to help people maintain their accommodation.

It comes six months before the Government’s Homeless Reduction Act comes into effect, which will give CEC twice as long to deal with the threat of homelessness and additional duties to help those affected.

Cllr Ainsley Arnold, CEC cabinet member for housing and planning, said: “Homelessness is a frequently misunderstood concept. It is a lot more than simply people who are sleeping rough.

“Many people are vulnerable to losing their home and it is vital that this council continues to do everything within its power to support those at risk of doing so.

“We have been extremely successful in finding accommodation for homeless people through the schemes that we commission and will continue to find appropriate solutions for our residents who find themselves in this situation.”

From April 2018, CEC must help people likely to be homeless within 56 days, rather than the current 28-day limit.

The council will also have a legal duty assess why the person is becoming homeless, what accommodation would be suitable, and what support is needed for them to help keep or obtain accommodation.

CEC hopes its new strategy, which will run until 2021, will continue to improve its number of successful interventions to prevent homelessness – a figure which rose from 577 in 2014 to 878 in 2016.

It also wants the strategy to help the council achieve gold standard from the National Practitioner Support Service.

To take part in the consultation, see the consultations page at cheshireeast.gov.uk from Monday.