On 19 August Prime Minister Andy Burnhamannounced a national drive to get all people sleeping rough into accommodation for Christmas.
- Everyone sleeping rough is to be offered a route off the streets this winter if they need it, the first major milestone in the Prime Minister's commitment to end rough sleeping.
- Under a boosted £442 million package, areas with the greatest need will receive the largest share of support, to get people out of the cold this winter and give people facing long-term homelessness a settled home and the support to keep it.
- In a drive to bring everyone together to play their part, the Prime Minister is announcing a first of its kind national summit on tackling rough sleeping to take place in the Autumn.
At the same time the government pledged additional funding to the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund and announced which civil society organisations had been successful in their funding bids to the first round of funding. More than £47m million has been allocated to 100 organisations.
Rick Henderson, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, the national membership body for frontline homelessness services, commented:
“The Government’s commitment to a national drive to end rough sleeping, backed by clear action and additional funding is extremely welcome. We are pleased that the need for both emergency accommodation and investment in practical support has been recognised and that guidance will be provided, empowering homelessness organisations to take that first step in offering routes off the streets this winter.
“It is extremely encouraging to see the critical role and expertise of the voluntary and community sector fully acknowledged by the Government, with the introduction of a national summit to bring together leaders from across society to collaborate on shaping this work.
“But we must not lose sight of the need to transform the system and its funding to focus on prevention measures and long-term accommodation and support if we are to truly end rough sleeping for good. The Government have talked about everyone pulling in the same direction at a local level but we also need cross-government collaboration at a national level to address the causes of rough sleeping and ensure that people do not leave hospitals, prisons or the asylum system and end up on the streets. We look forward to working with the Government to make this systems-change a reality.
“We congratulate those organisations that have been successful in their funding bids to the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund and are delighted to see that additional money has been pledged to the Fund to support the vital work of smaller and medium sized organisations across England.”
ENDS
