The devastating decision to cut funding to support services that support the most vulnerable in Chichester has been fiercely attacked by Chichester Labour. The £4 million cut in funding could see many of the charities that provide services such as hostels, needle exchange programmes and domestic abuse shelters at risk of closing entirely.

Mark Farwell, Chichester Labour spokesperson said, “Yet again the short termism of the local Tory council will have a much greater long term impact on our communities and a larger financial impact when various other agencies will have to pick up the pieces.”

Labour County Councillor Michael Jones has also raised his concerns over the timings of the decision which leaves two months until the next meeting to discuss the announcement.

In figures released by the charity Shelter, it has been confirmed that in the past year the overall number of homeless persons increased by 13,000. This means one in every 200 people in Britain are homeless and sleeping on the streets or stuck in temporary accommodation, including hostels and B&Bs.

Mark Farwell also said, “Flawed decisions like this, in the cuts made during austerity since 2010, have time and again had a greater impact and cost in the long run rendering the whole austerity agenda utterly futile.”