A RAFT of new measures are set to be introduced to tackle Oxford's homelessness problem.

Up to 50 people are sleeping rough on the streets each night while the council last year helped more than 1,100 families on the verge of becoming homeless.

With further cuts to services set to come in to effect next year, Oxford City Council has said it has a duty to tackle the issue, despite a shortage of government funding.

It said the problem is a national issue and that it has no legal responsibility to help homeless people but cannot stand by and do nothing.

More than £1.3m is set to be committed to keeping a key city hostel open for an extra year before funding a new one.

Oxford City Council’s executive board member for housing Mike Rowley said: “There are too many people on the street and those who sleep rough are much more likely to suffer serious health problems and to die prematurely.

"This is a national phenomenon and needs a more concerted response rather than seeing it as a purely local issue for which local solutions can be found.

“The government simply doesn’t provide enough funding but here in Oxford we’re not prepared to let the situation worsen.”

Oxfordshire County Council has cut funding, meaning the hostel Simon House, on Paradise Street, is set to be decommissioned in March next year, at a loss of 52 beds.

However, the city council is looking to provide £200,000 to keep up to 25 beds open in partnership with housing provider A2Dominion.

Accommodation will then provided a new site, with the housing company, to be built ready to open in 2019 to act as replacement at a cost of £1.125m.

Cllr Rowley added: “Street homelessness is an obvious problem in Oxford. But it is only the tip of the iceberg.

“What you don’t see is the hundreds of families and vulnerable single people who approach us, often right before or after they’ve lost their home and who we help find somewhere to stay. There were over 1,100 such families we helped last year.

That’s 1,100 families you won’t have seen sleeping rough on the streets."

The three-year housing and homelessness strategy which is set to begin in 2018 could introduce a raft of other measures including using currently empty buildings as accommodation and setting up a Rough Sleeping Commission to look into why people become homeless.

There have been a number of concerns about homelessness following previous cuts to services following the closure of Lucy Faithfull House in January last year.

A new build has been selected as re-opening the Speedwell Street site is not an option as it has been ear-marked for affordable housing.

Claire Dowan, chief executive at Oxford Homeless Pathways, welcomed the proposals set to be agreed by the council’s executive board on September 19.

She said: “I’m pleased to hear this – the more provision there is to support rough sleepers has to be beneficial for Oxford.

“The city and county councils work well together to try to tackle the problem of homelessness.

“More money needs to come from central government but it is an issue that has to be dealt with locally and we have to work with decreasing resources.”

Carole Powell, 59, from Barton sits most days in Cornmarket Street to sell her handcrafted art and regularly talks with the city's homeless people.

She said: “I support them in my own way. I talk to them like they need a friend.

“I think they ought to[build a shelter] but they should also provide the mental health services they need and the mental support teams they need."

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Paul Smith said: “Oxfordshire County Council is not the housing authority in Oxfordshire and does not run shelters. Despite this it has long been by far the largest funder of homelessness support, well beyond its legal obligations.

“Despite recent budget changes the county council remains the single biggest funder of housing related support services in 2017/18 as part of a redesign of services that was agreed with county and district councils and the NHS pooling funding.”

Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman Matthew McGuire said: “We’re determined to create a country that works for everyone and have committed to eliminate rough sleeping entirely.

“Oxford is receiving nearly £800,000  trailblazer funding to trial new approaches to preventing homelessness, working with a wider group of at risk people to help families and individuals before they reach crisis point.”

“Government is investing £550 million to 2020 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. We’re also implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act, which will require councils to provide early support to people at risk of becoming homeless.”

A city council consultation on the housing strategy will start on September 21.