Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has activated its Severe Weather Emergency Protocol, making emergency accommodation available to people sleeping rough during the current cold snap.
If you spot someone sleeping rough in the borough, call the council’s out-of-hours Housing Solutions line on 01732 844522. Where there’s an immediate risk to life, call 999.
The Severe Weather Emergency Protocol — SWEP, to those who deal with it regularly — exists to get people off the streets when freezing temperatures turn rough sleeping into something potentially fatal. The council will seek to place rough sleepers in bed and breakfast accommodation — for a minimum of three nights where possible — without requiring detailed questioning about individual circumstances on first approach. Accommodation may in some cases be outside the borough. A full housing assessment follows on the next working day.
During office hours, the Housing Options and Support Service is on 01732 876067, based at Gibson Building, Gibson Drive, Kings Hill, West Malling.
Key information
- Report a rough sleeper (out of hours): 01732 844522
- Housing Options and Support Service (office hours): 01732 876067
- Immediate risk to life: call 999
- Minimum accommodation offered: three nights, with a housing assessment the following working day