Burnham to double spending on homelessness amid drive to end rough sleeping by Christmas
Özet haber: Downing Street will allocate a further £432m in this week’s budget, bringing total funding for finding a ‘lasting solution’ to nearly £900m Andy Burnham is to double spending on ending rough sleeping to almost £900m by the end of the current parliament, as he steps up efforts to get people off the streets by Christmas. The prime minister has pledged to offer every rough sleeper in England a safe route off the streets or wider support as a central part of his premiership. Continue reading...
Downing Street will allocate a further £432m in this week’s budget, bringing total funding for finding a ‘lasting solution’ to nearly £900m
Andy Burnham is to double spending on ending rough sleeping to almost £900m by the end of the current parliament, as he steps up efforts to get people off the streets by Christmas.
The prime minister has pledged to offer every rough sleeper in England a safe route off the streets or wider support as a central part of his premiership.
As he prepared for a Downing Street summit on ending rough sleeping on Monday, Burnham said the budget would bring a further £432m commitment to helping to tackle homelessness.
The sum is on top of an initial £442m from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government budgets that will be allocated to the problem before March 2027.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, which will bring together charities and businesses, Burnham said: “Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t.
“Well, I don’t accept it. That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this parliament too.
“But we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleeping, we need every part of society behind us on this. So today we’re bringing together businesses, charities and local leaders in Downing Street to make sure this is a solution that lasts.”
Burnham’s mission to end rough sleeping is already under way with just two months to go before his deadline. There are specialist outreach teams and new accommodation spaces operating in Coventry, and further provision is being rolled out in places including Plymouth and Camden over the coming weeks.
The additional funding is being provided in an attempt to solve the problem of rough sleeping in the longer term. As mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham introduced schemes such as A Bed Every Night to offer emergency accommodation, but while the number of rough sleepers fell, it then began to increase again.
Burnham has previously said this was because “we were the only place providing that level of support and, understandably, people then travelled to Greater Manchester to access that support”.
He has said ending rough sleeping across the country will only be possible “if all areas are pulling in the same direction, and that’s what this funding is designed to achieve”.
The prime minister’s rough sleeping summit on Monday will bring together businesses, charities, housing providers and local leaders as they attempt to create more lasting changes.
Alongside the government, other organisations are making pledges towards solving the problem, with the National Housing Federation working with housing associations to identify at least 2,000 potential homes and bed spaces, including empty properties that could be brought back into use.
