Henry Smith has written to the Leader of West Sussex County Council, Cllr Louise Goldsmith, with regard to the issue of Crawley Open House.

Please click the link below to read the letter.

31st August 2018

Dear Louise

I was grateful for an opportunity to speak with you on the telephone yesterday evening regarding West Sussex County Council’s recently published Forward Plan which proposes ceasing discretionary funding to Crawley’s Open House homeless centre; I wanted to briefly outline my concerns in writing.

Open House has an important history of providing support to not only local homeless people but those coming to the area; indeed it is a unique facility between London and Brighton.

I am very aware that Crawley Borough Council is the local housing authority and that West Sussex County Council’s support has been a very generous addition, I also appreciate the drive to reduce costs on behalf of our taxpayers but believe such a withdrawal of funding to Open House would represent a false economy.

I would be grateful for an urgent re-think.

For my part I am lobbying the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government to request a part of the Government’s new rough sleeping reduction initiative funding comes to Crawley and West Sussex.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

As ever

Henry Smith
Member of Parliament
Crawley Constituency