FUNDING arrangements are being finalised for a new hub for rough sleepers in Oxford city centre.
The city council began work earlier this year to transform the former job centre in Floyds Row, off St Aldate’s into an assessment hub and shelter for up to 60 people experiencing homelessness or at risk of rough sleeping.
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Members of the council’s cabinet on Thursday will discuss the funding for the project, now set to cost £1.8m.
A report to council leaders recommends the council ‘revise the capital budget for this project, to take the capital envelope of the project to £1.8m, including contingencies’.
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Deputy leader of the council Linda Smith said: "We have already received more than £700,000 of government funding for Floyds Row and we will be bidding for further funding.
"This new approach to tackling homelessness in Oxford will start this winter.
"From October, the new first assessment service will open in Simon House, and will then transfer to Floyds Row around the New Year.
"The staging post accommodation will then open in Floyds Row in the spring.”
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The rough sleeping problem has escalated in recent years and the council is spending millions of pounds to address it.
A £3.7m shelter for rough sleepers opened in Rymers Lane, Cowley, earlier this month.
Matilda House is offering accommodation for 37 residents.
The cabinet meeting starts at 6pm at the town hall in St Aldate's.
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