THURROCK Conservatives have expressed their delight at Thurrock Council taking forward their idea for a home to help homeless veterans.
At Wednesday’s budget meeting Conservative Leader Rob Gledhill proposed that investigative works be undertaken to get a home to get at least 4 homeless veterans off the street in Thurrock within 12 months. After the meeting he said "I have been trying for a number of years to have the Council investigate how it can help get our homeless veterans off the streets and back on their feet. With the annual housing budget being proposed it was clearly the best opportunity for the idea to to be moved forward. Whilst Thurrock may not have a specific problem with homeless veterans, there are 1000’s on the streets of London alone. It is terrible that someone who signs up to protect the nation is forced to live on the street because they need more than just a roof over their head when they rejoin civvy street. There may not be a legal obligation to help solve this problem but I believe the moral obligation to look after those who look after us is more than enough to prompt every council into taking action. By working collectively local councils can help towards consigning this problem to the history books."
The plight of homeless veterans has recently been highlighted by the Independent and Evening Standard newspapers, even seeing the Mayor of London spending a night on the streets with homeless veterans. Councillor Gledhill has raised veterans issues at Thurrock Council, regularly confirming that Council policies exclude any income from injury related war pensions, that the Veterans Charter was refreshed, and that the Council look to do more to help former service personnel.
He added "I am delighted that there was unanimous support for this plan and the guarantee of it going the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee will mean that we can look at various options and ensure their is a joined up approach for any support services the residents may need. I would envisage that the home would be a stepping stone for our veterans to get off the the street then into homes on their own. I would thank the Housing Portfolio Holder for her support on this and look forward to working with her to get this idea off the ground sooner rather than later. If Thurrock gets this right, it could be a model that other councils adopt to help get more and more veterans off the street, showing that Thurrock can lead the way on veterans support."
