Living Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council's Cold Weather Plan provides emergency accommodation for rough sleepers during periods of cold weather (temperatures at or below 0°C for three consecutive nights, forecast taken from the Met Office official forecast www.metoffice.gov.uk).  Rough sleepers may be placed in local hostels or other forms of emergency or supported accommodation (subject to availability). Where both hostels are full and no other suitable form of emergency or supported accommodation is available, a local B&B will be used to accommodate the individual, subject to availability

A rough sleeper is defined by Welsh Government as :

“People who are sleeping or bedded down in the open air; people in buildings or other places not designed for habitation”

Any individual who meets the definition of a rough sleeper and has no other accommodation available to them which is reasonable for them to occupy will be offered accommodation.

Someone may be a rough sleeper where an individual can no longer be accommodated in temporary accommodation and has lost their offer of temporary accommodation for whatever reason.

Any individual deemed too high risk to be accommodated in any provision available or there is no availability of accommodation, shall be issued with a rough sleeper assistance leaflet which outlines local voluntary and third sector services available to those individuals sleeping rough in the Borough.

Once the forecast predicts a rise in evening temperature (above 0°C), emergency accommodation shall no longer be provided.

Any individual provided with emergency accommodation will be strongly encouraged and supported to undertake a Housing Solutions Assessment - to explore and address the reasons for their homelessness and where appropriate undertake a full homelessness assessment.

The local authority shall work closely with all commissioned partner agencies, volunteers and local groups to identify and support individuals who find themselves sleeping rough during the coldest months.

Although we provide as out-of-hours service for emergencies, Due to the explicit requirement to risks assess individuals - it is not always possible to provide out of hours placements, other than in the most exceptional of circumstances. It is recommended that contact is made with the Housing Solutions team at the Civic centre during working hours to request accommodation under the cold weather provision.