Truro Street Drinkers - Report by Rob Nolan, Mayor of Truro

Over the last three months I've held several meetings with the Police, St Petroc's, Addaction, Cornwall Council, NatWest Bank and Sarah Newton MP to try to get something done about the Street Drinkers.
On Friday the Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police allocated five additional Officers to Truro, and NatWest now accept that the area outside the Bank is their property and are taking legal advice on how to deal with the situation. Environmental Health are inspecting the area, and the space behind BHS, nearly every day.
Sarah Newton is now a junior Minister in the Home Office with responsibility for vulnerable people. I have made sure that she knows what's happening.
It was disappointing to see three brand new tents outside the Bank Monday morning, and to read reports on FaceBook etc that the weekend saw some shocking scenes of fighting and abuse.
At this stage I did push the Police to use the Vagrancy Act of 1825. It seems bizarre to be using an Act that's almost 200 years old, but with no progress being made it seemed like time for desperate measures. The Police are not keen.
However in a new development legal papers have, or will be today, served on the vagrants asking them to vacate the premises outside the Bank on Wednesday, and legal proceedings have been taken to back this up should they fail to vacate.
Where they will go afterwards is a concern. We don't have the specialist facilities they need and it's possible that they'll end up in a car park or some of the Cornwall Housing flats where rough sleepers have been staying. But Cornwall Council are aware of this and we'll just have to deal with the situation on step at a time.
Best wishes
Rob Nolan

Mayor of Truro

PPC Truro & Falmouth Constituency

10 January 2017