Homeless Link congratulates Alison McGovern on their appointment as the Minister with responsibility for homelessness. Ms McGovern will sit within the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government, led by newly appointed Secretary of State Steve Reed
Picking up responsibilities from predecessor Rushanara Ali, Alison McGovern takes on their role at an important moment, with a new cross-governmental Homelessness Strategy expected in the coming months.
Welcoming the new Minister to their role, Homeless Link CEO Rick Henderson commented:
“We look forward to working with Alison McGovern and congratulate her on her appointment to this extremely important role. Over the years we’ve worked constructively with many Ministers to ensure our members have more of the tools they need to address homelessness in their communities. We hope to build a highly productive relationship with Alison McGovern in the coming weeks and months.”
“The Minister picks up the huge responsibility of reducing our country’s shamefully high levels of homelessness. Thankfully, there’s a unique opportunity on the horizon for them to make an immediate impact.”
“The upcoming Homelessness Strategy is a chance to reset an approach to homelessness that has, by any measure, been a failure.”
“It’s a chance to urgently implement pragmatic measures to reduce record levels of people without a secure home. But also a chance to build an ambitious, more effective and more efficient system-wide approach to homelessness, one that delivers on our shared ambition of getting back on track to ending homelessness.
“These aren’t separate endeavours but two sides of the same coin. By addressing the homelessness emergency now, the Government can lay the foundation for a country free from homelessness.”
“Homeless Link and our 750+ members stand ready to get to work with the new Minister and her team to build and implement an effective strategy. With the right support from government, our members and their highly-skilled staff are perfectly equipped to break the cycle of rising homelessness."
