PEOPLE sleeping rough on the streets in freezing temperatures should be given shelter through council reserve funding pots, it has been claimed.

Oxford City Councillor Craig Simmons called on the council to release cash to provide accommodation for the homeless and said about £800,000 could be made available.

Mr Simmons, leader of the Green party, said the money should be used and Lucy Faithfull House - a former hostel closed earlier this year - should be reopened due to the situation of rough sleepers becoming an ‘emergency’. His comments came after temperatures plummeted well below freezing over the past few nights across the county.

He said: “The Greens have long been critical of the council’s policies on homelessness such as their use of protection orders to criminalise some rough sleepers, and the failure to stop the closure of Lucy Faithfull House.

“We have also opposed money being held back in the council’s homelessness reserve at a time when the numbers of rough sleepers is growing. If there was ever a time to set aside our differences and work together, it is surely now.

“The council can and should release money to help provide temporary accommodation for rough sleepers who are facing the harshest weather we have seen for some time.”

Mr Simmons said the district councils should be doing ‘much more’ in the wake of Oxfordshire County Council cuts of £1.5m to homeless services.

The reductions means Simon House in Oxford and Julian Housing will be scrapped by April 2018 - a loss of 154 beds out of 286.

Marrion Cobraretti, who has lived in Oxford since 1991, became homeless three-and-a-half years ago after his relationship broke down.

The 44-year-old father-of-three said: “In one word at the moment it’s horrendous.

“It’s bloody cold. I think I only slept for about 15 minutes.”

The city council said its 'Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP)' spaces were activated on Tuesday, which provides respite for up to 26 more rough sleepers overnight

The Outreach Team go out every night to check up on rough-sleepers and offer them these spaces.

Councillor Mike Rowley, Board Member for Housing, said: "The Council's Severe Weather Emergency Provision was activated over the cold snap and we are confident that it meets the need, since not all the places were used over the three nights.

"As of the beginning of this financial year, the Council had a reserve of £952K (not £800K) earmarked to meet unexpected extra costs to do with preventing homelessness and supporting people who are homeless and vulnerably housed. 

"This is an active reserve which is used and replenished at need.  It exists because of Oxford's "double whammy" of rising housing costs and shrinking support, and with the benefit cap being cut further - affecting hundreds of households including families with children who will struggle to afford rent - it would be irresponsible for us to spend all or most of it as a one-off.

"In preference to subsidising landlords with money that will soon run out in Oxford's inflated housing market, we are investing £5 million in the National Homelessness Property Fund, which is match funded to buy accommodation in around Oxford where homeless people will be able to afford to live and can receive appropriate support."