HOMELESS people across Bournemouth met with the leader of the Liberal Democrats who was in the area as part of a “listening tour”.

Sir Ed Davey was invited to the town by Cllr Vikki Slade as part of his tour, to determine what his party can do better in upcoming general elections.

And as part of the tour, Mr Davey spoke to homeless people across the conurbation to help better understand the problem.

Mr Davey said: “I’ve known Vikki Slade for many years, and I think she did an amazing job as leader of BCP, and she was very passionate about tackling homelessness and it’s been a big issue here.

“When the government quite rightly got everybody in at the start of Covid, when people went into hotels, workers from organisations like St Mungo’s could engage with them in a way they couldn’t when they were on the streets.

“Talking to some rough sleepers, and St Mungo’s workers, they have found Covid has led to a different approach to caring for people, where there’s been more consistency and health and housing workers come together to help people.”

Mr Davey said he was impressed with how St Mungo’s ensure homeless people see the same people for appointments which helps build trust.

He also created a bill 18 months ago attempting to ensure homeless people have rights for end of life care.

He continued: “People on the streets often feel nobody cares for them at all.

“They are treated badly by passers-by, I met a guy today who said people would hit and he felt very vulnerable, he was robbed and that is an awful experience.

“Talking to them makes you feel that the system doesn’t work for them. My bill was to change the rules of the system.

“If you’re homeless and you’ve made yourself homeless, you have no rights, and my bill is trying to stop that.

“The law needs to be changed if we are going to care for people who frankly deserve that care.”

Mr Davey said the Liberal Democrats has been working with local councils, including BCP, to help tackle the problem of homelessness.

Cllr Vikki Slade said: “The work we’ve done with the homeless over the last year has been so exceptional, I wanted to show him how all the partnerships were working.

“The work we’ve done with the health and wellbeing of people that are homeless, to try and actually think about their lives, if we can get that replicated in other places it would be an amazing thing to feel to be a part of.”