On 02 December the Ending Homelessness APPG Co-Chair Bob Blackman MP led a Parliamentary debate focused on funding for homelessness.
Coming a few days after the Chancellor’s autumn Budget statement and as the Homelessness Strategy is being finalised, the debate proved an important opportunity for Minister Alison McGovern to hear about how and why the funding system for homelessness services needs to change in order to turn the tide on homelessness.
Funding reform has been central to Homeless Link’s Breaking the Cycle campaign, and we’ve worked with Bob Blackman and his team to secure this debate over the past few months.
Beginning the debate, Mr Blackman argued we must start by acknowledging “the reality that homelessness is rising,” citing statistics on rising numbers sleeping rough and living in temporary accommodation from Homeless Link and Crisis.
He also cited Homeless Link research showing that due to funding pressures many homelessness support services are at risk of “reducing capacity or closing down just when they are needed most.”
Looking ahead to the Homelessness Strategy, due to be published in the near future, Bob Blackman called for government to review both “the adequacy of funding and the overall approach to homelessness at a systems level.”
Turning specifically to supported housing, he cited the removal of the Supporting People ringfence as having caused “significant variation" in the provision of supported accommodation across the country, in terms of quality, quantity and funding model.
He urged the Minister to look at these issues and ensure effective implementation of the new Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 as soon as possible.
Remarks from the Minister
Alison McGovern, Minister for Homelessness and Local Government, acknowledged the high attendance at the debate and stated that this showed “tackling homelessness is a priority for Members on both sides of the House of Commons.”
She added she would be encouraging “all officials in the Department to read this debate to understand where MPs are coming from and the priority that this subject represents for them.”
She confirmed that delivering on the implementation of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 and the cross-government Homelessness Strategy were a priority. On the latter, she stated she was “determined” the final Homelessness Strategy would be published before Christmas.
The Minister also confirmed a measure announced in the budget: a “value for money" review which aims to increase the supply of quality supported and temporary accommodation. She indicated this will be led by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in collaboration with her team and other Ministers, and encouraged other MPs to engage in the process.
Concluding her speech, the Minister confirmed there would be an upcoming meeting of the Interministerial Group on Homelessness prior to the publication of the strategy. She added that “all departments” involved in the group are “engaging enthusiastically.”
Acknowledging supported housing is “crucial” and that it had been identified by a number of MPs as a priority, the Minister admitted that we “desperately need more resources in this area,” as well as more efficient use of existing resource. She pledged to introduce the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 as “a priority” and indicated that the upcoming value for money review aims to enable better targeted funding by eliminating rogue landlords.
Other contributions from MPs
Conservative Party Housing, Communities and Local Government Spokesperson Gareth Bacon criticised the delay in publishing the Homelessness Strategy, and also cited Homeless Link research that National Insurance Contribution increases in the Government’s 2024 Budget statement had put extreme cost pressures on homelessness support services. He acknowledged though that homelessness was a “social tragedy” which is important to MPs “across the house.”
A number of members praised the work of homelessness services in their constituency, including a number of Homeless Link members, calling on Ministers to ensure funding for these services was maintained. This included Caritas in Manchester, Salvation Army in York, Doncaster Housing for Young People in Doncaster, and St. Petroc’s in Exeter.
Calls for embracing a Housing First approach were also raised by a number of speakers, including Patrick Hurley, Rachel Maskell and Lee Pitcher. The latter cited Housing First as one way to “break the cycle” of homelessness.
Various MPs also criticised the recent Budget for the failure to increase Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, stating this will cause increased homelessness and put extra pressures on local authorities.
Homeless Link responds to the debate
Welcoming the debate, Rick Henderson CEO of Homeless Link stated:
“We’re very grateful to Bob Blackman for working closely with our team to secure this debate at a critical moment. The new cross-government Homelessness Strategy is expected to be published in the coming [MH1] weeks, and promises to be an opportunity to start turning the tide on record levels of homelessness.
“Empowering homelessness support and prevention services to build on solutions with proven track records, such as Housing First and specialist supported housing, will be vital to both ending the current homelessness emergency and starting to build a country without homelessness. But this will only be possible with a reformed, sustainable, secure and sufficient funding model that enables a truly cross-government Homelessness Strategy which fundamentally changes our approach to homelessness.”
“That’s why we were so pleased to see a full review of ‘funding and delivery models’ announced in the recent Budget, with a goal of improving the supply of temporary accommodation and supported housing.”
“The Minister’s affirmation that all departments involved in the Interministerial Group are “engaging enthusiastically in the strategy” is highly welcome, and we look forward to seeing that level of engagement maintained as the strategy moves into the delivery phase.
"We also look forward to working with the Minister to ensure the upcoming value-for-money review delivers the stability and sustainability providers of supported housing and other homelessness services desperately need.”
You can watch or read the full debate on Parliament's website. If you would like to get involved in our Breaking the Cycle campaign, please download our Campaign Pack.
