Wolverhampton Council chief says 'we don't have a rough sleeper problem, we have aggressive beggars'

Tim Johnson was asked a question at the Wolverhampton Business Forum about what can be done about aggressive beggars who harass passersby in the subways by The Molineux and in the town centre.

The council boss stressed rough sleeping was not a problem in the city anymore, and the two problems, begging and homelessness, were separate.

He said: "It is an unfortunate fact that so many cities have the problem of aggressive beggars.

"What we do not have in this city is rough sleeping, our rough sleeping population is incredibly small. We work with people, we have invested in facilities for people who have found themselves rough sleeping.

"I can say there is nobody sleeping rough in this city if they do not want to."

He added: "It is a challenge, it's a judgement, it's a fine line - the rough sleeping and aggressive beggars are different problems.

"When it comes to aggressive beggars some of these individuals are skilled at evading the law - the people you see in Molineux subway or wherever are not rough sleepers, they are people who have come to the city to try and get money."

The audience member responded: "It puts people off. Every city I have been in I have seen aggressive begging, including Wolverhampton. They don't even need to ask for cash anymore because some of them have payment machines.

"They can be aggressive, and it would be good if the council could find some by-laws to prosecute them with."

The discussion was at the Wolverhampton Business Forum meeting on Thursday night at the University of Wolverhampton's Springfield campus.

The forum's panel included Wolverhampton Council's leader Stephen Simpkins and chief executive Tim Johnson, and the university vice-chancellor Professor Ebrahim Adia, and businessmen Henry Carver, CEO Carvers Group; Ninder Johal DL, CEO of Nacural Group.