Labour claims Tory run Peterborough City Council has “failed its children” after revealing that over 450 children are living in temporary accommodation in the city.
Cllr Mohammed Jamil, Labour’s lead for housing on Peterborough City Council, said: “When an administration is in a mess, a lot of issues get missed or do not get the priority they deserve.
“It is shocking that a relatively small council can have one of the highest figures of children living in temporary accommodation.
“This is just another example of a council that has failed its children.”
Cllr Jamil said nationally figures have soared to a 25 year-high, when current records first began.
He said Labour is urging Peterborough City Council to review its support for children and the action it is taken to get families out of B&B accommodation.
Cllr Jamil said a total of 336 households in the city were in temporary accommodation at the end of March according to the latest government statistics, including 230 households with children. Across England, 136,370 children were living in temporary accommodation, including 454 in Peterborough.
“Pressure on families has become greater over the last two years with prices rising and the cost-of-living crisis,” he said.
“These challenges became even greater when the government crashed the economy last autumn, and interest rates started rising.”
Nearly a third of families (28%) were living in B&B style accommodation often without the facilities children and young people need.
Andrew Pakes, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Peterborough, urged the council to take swifter action to support families in temporary accommodation, adding: “These latest figures show the reality for too many children growing up in temporary accommodation in the city.
“We now have the highest number of households living in temporary accommodation since records began 25 years ago.
“We need urgent action by the council to support families struggling with housing costs and support for children stuck in a cycle of temporary accommodation.
Crisis chief executive Matt Downie said: “Once again, we see the crippling cost that years of no investment in housing benefit and a shameful lack of social house building is having by trapping families in temporary accommodation.”
Cllr Mohammed Jamil, Labour’s lead for housing on Peterborough City Council (right) with Andrew Pakes, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Peterborough
