Council officials have agreed to fund a night shelter to help tackle the rising number of rough sleepers in Stoke-on-Trent. Stoke-on-Trent City Council is paying Adullam Housing Association £150,456 to provide the nine-bed shelter in Burslem for six months.

The decision comes after increases in homelessness and rough sleeping in Stoke-on-Trent this year.

By the end of October, the city council had received 2,371 homelessness inquiries, the highest number since the Homelessness Reduction Act in 2018 and a 14 per cent increase on the previous year.

And in October there were 81 individuals on the rough sleeper outreach team's caseload, compared to 69 at the same point in 2024.

Funding for the night shelter will come from the £974,225 Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant awarded to the council for 2025/26.

Swan Bank Methodist Church previously ran a night shelter project from its premise in Chapel Lane, Burslem for several years, with the support of volunteers and grant funding from the council.

But the facility has not been used for accommodation purposes since 2019 due to a shortage of volunteers, although it has been used for other services such as the provision of food, clothing and showers.

Swan Bank and Adullam approached the council with proposals to bring the night shelter back into use as emergency off-street accommodation over the winter months.

A council report states: "The additional grant funding from MHCLG will enable existing services to be enhanced and gaps in current provision to be developed.

"However, the time limited nature of the funding and the need to act swiftly to tackle existing pressures, especially the lack of off-street accommodation as winter approaches mean that it will not be possible to undertake a detailed full procurement process for projects proposed to be funded from this grant.

"The use of a grant in this instance will be used specifically by the council to fund additional emergency beds and will cover the costs to do this.

"The proposals outlined by Adullam and Swan Bank Methodist Church will meet the grant conditions set out by MHCLG."

The Burslem night shelter will operate until May 31, 2026.