HOMELESSNESS in Oxford has reached “crisis” levels as the number of rough sleepers has hit an all-time high and shelters are full up.

Homeless workers say the situation is only going to get worse as funding for housing-related support countywide is due to be cut by 38 per cent over the next two years.

Figures from Oxford City Council in March revealed there were an estimated 43 people sleeping on the streets of the city.

It follows a spot check – which directly counts the number of rough sleepers on one night – in November last year identifying 26 people, which was up from 19 in 2013.

And homeless shelters in Oxford, where there are about 220 beds available, have said they have seen numbers soar.

Jon Fitzpatrick, director of The Porch Steppin’ Stone Centre in East Oxford, said the day service had “already seen a real increase in numbers”.

Figures for the centre showed 202 different people used the centre from October to December 2014, up from 188 between July and September, 163 people between April and June and 156 between January and March.

Mr Fitzpatrick said, although the numbers seemed quite small, they were “extremely noticeable” to the centre.

He added: “We have seen a significant increase in people using the centre.

“It’s a very insensitive time to take away funding for support.

“We will see the impact. I don’t see the long-term aim and I think the number will just keep on going up. We are working in a crisis at the moment.”

Oxfordshire County Council plans to slash its housing related support across the county from £3.85m to £2.34m by 2016/17 because of Government cuts to its budget.

A report to the city council housing panel scrutiny meeting in March from Shaibur Rahman, rough sleeping and single homelessness manager at the local authority, said there was was likely to see a reduction in the quality of support hostels would be able to provide.

It added that, although the funding for beds was being maintained, the rise in homeless numbers would affect homeless pathways, which aims to find homeless people accommodation and work with them to solve substance misuse, mental health issues and alcohol addictions.

The city council currently spends £1.4m on its various homeless services, of which about a third comes from the county council.

Linda Smith, Labour Councillor for Blackbird Leys, said: “This is valuable preventative work and I fear that the impact of it being cut will be a direct increase in the number of local people experiencing homelessness.”

And Labour councillor for Littlemore Gill Sanders said the local authority was “extremely anxious” over the current situation, a fear echoed by those on the front line.

O’Hanlon House, which provides a service for Oxford Homeless Pathways, will suffer an £8,000 cut to their annual budget for 2015/16.

Chief executive of Oxford Homeless Pathways Lesley Dewhurst said providing services for the homeless was going to get “very difficult” and that they had been aware homelessness was rising.

She added: “The Government needs to consider the depth of the cuts. We have been fighting the cuts for the last year and now we have to just accept it and make the best out of what we can.

“At the moment we have had up to 20 extra people staying in our main hostel, which has a capacity of 56 beds. The county council is in a difficult position.”

Ms Dewhurst believed one of the causes for the rise in rough sleeper numbers was housing affordability.

Recent research carried out by Oxford University Professor Danny Dorling ranked Oxford as the most unaffordable city in the UK.

He said the high property prices could force people on to the streets, and that it was likely many would travel to major cities.

He added “If you are homeless in the county, you are gravitated to the city and more likely to turn up in Oxford.”

Mrs Sanders called Oxford a “Mecca” for homeless people in the county.

She said: “The city council has the biggest problem of all the other areas in Oxfordshire. People come here because it’s the Mecca. The city council is extremely anxious about homelessness.”

County council spokesman Marcus Mabberley said the county council made the decision to no longer subsidise non-statutory housing-related support services due to funding cuts from the Government.

He added: “An approach regarding services aimed at homeless people was agreed which will see exactly the same number of hostel beds in Oxford funded as previously.

“An assessment centre with larger capacity than currently will be established at O’Hanlon House, to better help meet the needs of homeless people in the city.”