Key figures in County Durham have hit out at the “disgusting” practice of London councils sending vulnerable people up to the region without the knowledge of local councils.

The Northern Echo can exclusively reveal that in the last year, two households a month were shipped up to County Durham by London Borough Councils.

Meanwhile, thousands of families in the region are currently on waiting lists for temporary accommodation and there are hundreds of homeless children in the North East.

Politicians and charity leaders have branded the act as “deplorable” and “disgusting” as those shipped up here are being left without help or support

However, Durham County Council say that decanting does not relate to temporary accommodation or their ability to source or supply temporary accommodation.

Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, called the lack of communication between London Borough Councils and local authorities “difficult” as it hinders the ability to “effectively plan”.

He said: “There is a national issue with London Boroughs discharging their homelessness duties by relocating households out of area. I am advised these placements are through a small number of managing agents.

“It is difficult to obtain numbers, as despite statutory obligations, London Boroughs are failing to notify local authorities when a household is relocated. 

“This lack of communication hinders our ability to effectively plan, and places greater strain on already over-stretched council budgets and public services. We must ensure all authorities are complying with their statutory obligations."

Graham Easterlow, CEO of the East Durham Trust which supports families in need, described how ‘contemptible’ he thought the practice was.

He explained that many of the people being moved had issues with substance abuse.

Mr Easterlow said: “For some time we have been supporting people in East Durham who have been moved here from the South East of England.

“These 'households' are often single people moved up here with no local links and no support networks. Some are simply placed on a train with a key and an address. It is a deplorable act.

“In 2012, I was working in the North West, just as austerity was starting to truly impact local councils budgets.

“I overheard a council worker describe people who lived in housing that received council tax support as 'negative equity'.

“12 years on and the 'decanting' of people considered as 'high cost' from the affluent South East to cash strapped local authorities in the North East is the devastating ideological progression of seeing people in financial terms only.”

He slammed London Borough Councils for moving vulnerable people into communities that were already struggling.

“Moving vulnerable people into already embattled communities which are facing high levels of deprivation and generational poverty is a contemptible act. How can someone simply pop a human being on a train, send them on their way and then think 'no my problem anymore'.

“Especially when they have vulnerabilities such as mental ill health and homelessness. These are unmanaged resettlements.

“We are not informed as a local support charity. This places huge pressure on already stretched council and voluntary sector resources,” he said.

Mary Kelly Foy, Labour MP for Durham City, committed to writing to the Home Secretary about the situation and the lack of support families which are being moved are receiving.

She said: “It is simply unacceptable that London Borough Councils, through a number of managing agents, are discharging their homelessness duties by relocating people out of their areas without properly informing the local authorities into which these families are being placed.

“This lack of information sharing not only makes it nigh on impossible for local authorities and other services to plan for their arrival, it is desperately unfair on families that are being dropped in areas with no ongoing support in place.

“In many cases, these households are being moved to unfamiliar parts of the country and simply being left to fend for themselves. There is a real danger that they will simply fall through the cracks.

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“It is vital that any London Borough moving families into housing across the wider UK communicates with the councils receiving these households, and I shall be writing to the Home Secretary to ask for further clarity on how these families, and the communities into which they are being placed, can be supported.”

Michael Kelleher, Durham County Council’s head of planning and housing, said: “We are concerned that some London councils are discharging their housing duty by offering their residents private tenancies in other parts of the country, including in the North East.

"These arrangements are made directly between the councils in question and private sector landlords, and while we have no involvement in this process and there is no legal restriction preventing it, it is of course concerning that people are being relocated hundreds of miles away from home in this way."