Unfortunately, homelessness and begging is becoming more and more common. Clearly, this is some anti-social behaviour that we would all rather not see and for suitable solutions to be put in place. However, this is a hugely complex issue that Purley BID is continuing to address, alongside several other bodies.
There are 4 main parties involved in most cases. Firstly the homeless person or beggar themselves, secondly the Council and its various outreach teams, next is the Police/ Safer Neighbourhood Team and then finally the landlord. There are also several other factors such as mental health, public support (providing food and money etc) that also need to be taken into consideration.
Purley BID has regular dialog with the local police, the Council, Purley Councillors, Purley Ward Panel (Safer Neighbourhood Team) and Safer Neighbourhood Officers on how best to manage any current situation and you can be assured that in each case, they are being addressed.
How to manage homelessness and begging
Street Link
First and foremost, see if the right support can be provided. Connect with street link to gain support for the individual. You can visit their website https://www.streetlink.org.uk/ Call 0300 500 0914or download the app from the Apple App store or the Google Play store for Android. In almost every case, housing can be provided and most often cases are related to mental health issues, the teams at Street Link can signpost people in the right direction for support.
Providing food or money
As much as you may feel sorry for individuals, the recommendation from the police is always not to provide food or money. This generally only ensures that they are able to stay where they are and less likely to accept support from help agencies.
Anti-Social Behaviour
If people are behaving anti-socially, being intimidating, noisy, threatening, then contacting the police on 101 is the preferred option.
Contacting Landlords
Landowners in Purley centre are generally split into TFL, Croydon Council and private business landlords. Landlords, often see it as the Council’s responsibility, the Council can often see this as a Police matter and the Police see it as the Landlord’s responsibility. If the individuals do not want to move and are not breaking the law (such as begging) it can be very difficult to get people housed.
Broken Window Syndrome
There is something called the broken window syndrome, whereas if one window is broken in a rundown building it often leads to many more appearing. This is also true with begging and homelessness. There is a significant increase in Croydon with homelessness and often if people are moved on from Croydon centre they can reappear in Purley.
There is also a hotspot close to the superstore, that is a very attractive place for beggars and as long as people continue to provide food and money they will always appear, once one person moves on, the space is soon taken up by someone else. The Purley BID has engaged private security firms to move the individuals on and are in regular talks with the Police. Often, even if the people are moved on, once the security is removed then they return to their spots.
It is often seen that, where there is a person also selling “The Big Issue”, this tends to deter other beggars as people would prefer to support the Big Issue rather than others that are unregulated.
Reporting on Individual cases
Where possible, Purley BID will not respond publicly to individual inquiries on cases of begging. We do not want to prejudice people’s feelings to people who have been placed in very unfortunate situations. It is also unfortunate that often it can take a considerable time to assist homeless people.
However, be assured that the benefit of Purley having an organisation such as Purley BID, is that for all the homeless people, there is regular engagement between the Police, Council, Street Link and landowners to reach a good and swift resolution.