The operation to confiscate and throw away tents outside UCLH 

• WHEN I heard Suella Braverman talk about homelessness being a lifestyle choice I thought about my last visit to our emergency hotel accommodation where people told us about fleeing domestic abuse, marriages breaking down, rents escalating and the absolute desperation of finding yourself with nowhere to turn.

Homelessness isn’t a lifestyle choice, it is a political choice by central government.

We have seen over the last decade rough sleeping rates in England increase by over 74 per cent – with an increase of 21 per cent in London in the last year.

This year London Councils analysis shows that, tragically, at least one child in every London classroom is homeless; around 81,000 children across our city.

Given all of this, it was with real shock when I saw images of an operation which ended up destroying people’s personal possessions in Camden, (Homeless tents crushed in rubbish van, November 10).

I broke my maternity leave to speak to our teams and our acting leader who had already launched a full investigation into what happened.

UCH led the operation to move people on who had been camped in tents outside the hospital, and it is clear that Camden staff were involved.

Camden’s outreach team had been visiting to support those affected with housing advice and other specialist services.

Camden had also responded to a request to have our waste contractors on site.

I have to be absolutely clear that what happened was completely unacceptable.

These are not Camden’s values. Staff and contractors should never have been in that position, and I am sorry this happened.

The strategy we have set for the council is one that provides compassionate support.

Each year we invest millions into support services including outreach teams that provide accommodation support, mental health support and, where necessary, substance misuse support where people are.

We have one of the largest hostel pathways in the country with 681 beds.

We are determined to learn from what happened and to ensure we always provide a compassionate response.

We will be a voice for those who are abandoned by our government. So many of the people on our streets have no recourse to public funds and nowhere to turn. They are victims of a broken housing market and a broken asylum system.

Camden will always be a place where everyone matters.

You can help us by always informing our outreach teams when you meet someone sleeping on streets so we can offer support; emailing streetsafe@cgl.org.uk or calling or calling 0808 800 0005.

CLLR GEORGIA GOULD
Leader of Camden Council