The Minister for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith (Florence Eshalomi)
With permission, I would like to make a statement on the Government’s plan to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness and to deliver good growth in every part of the country. On the Prime Minister’s first day in Downing Street, he made ending rough sleeping his first priority. He did so because having a safe and secure place to call home matters to almost everything else in life. It affects our health and how children do at school, whether people can find and keep a job and the opportunities that come their way in the future.
Security is about much more than a roof over our heads; it is about whether the place we call home gives us the chance to succeed. That means putting the foundations in place for strong local economies and thriving places, because, ultimately, the economic growth we want is created by people, and people are better able to get on in life when they have a decent home, a good job and a community with the tools to shape its own future. For this Government, that means backing local leaders, too, giving them the freedom to invest in the homes, high streets, jobs and infrastructure their communities need, rather than making them bid for funding from Whitehall pots.
Today, I am updating the House on two important steps in our work: new investment to tackle rough sleeping and prevent homelessness, and the roll-out of good growth funding across England. Both stem from the same belief: national Government should provide the backing while local leaders who know their communities have the freedom to get on and deliver.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister brought together local leaders, charities, businesses and other partners in Downing Street to drive forward the pledge he made on his first day in office. Our immediate commitment is to offer everyone sleeping rough a route off the streets this Christmas and to bring forward new accommodation and the right support to help people move ahead with their lives. We are backing that commitment with an extra £432 million from next year, so that local areas can continue to provide a route off the streets over the rest of this Parliament. That takes the total funding supporting the Prime Minister’s pledge to £874 million.
This immediate help matters enormously, particularly as the winter approaches. This weekend, the first two named storms of the season brought severe weather across the country. Tragically, two men lost their lives after being struck by falling trees in Dumfries and Galloway and in north London. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones. For anyone sleeping rough on the streets, that is a stark reminder of the dangers that winter can bring.
Getting people somewhere safe is urgent, but just as important is what happens next. It is not enough to offer somebody a bed for a few nights and then see them return to the streets. People sleeping rough may need help with their physical or mental health, finding a job or other complex needs. A route off the streets, then, must come with the support that people need to rebuild their lives, regain their independence and, crucially, find lasting security away from the streets.
This programme is designed to be led locally. Rough sleeping does not stop at council boundaries, and neither do many of the services that people rely on. Whether funding goes directly to local councils or through mayoral strategic authorities, local leaders will have the flexibility to bring partners together and respond to local pressures.
However, we need to break the cycle of crisis altogether. We cannot wait until someone has lost their home before stepping in. That is at the heart of our national plan to end homelessness: public services working together, intervening earlier and preventing homelessness wherever possible. That is why we have already moved to ban no-fault evictions, repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824 and reform right to buy to protect our social housing stock. We are bringing long-term empty homes back into use and tackling unsuitable bed-and-breakfast accommodation for families. Temporary accommodation should be temporary. All too often, it is anything but.
The principle of trust in local leaders brings me to good growth. In our “Rewiring the State” Cabinet statement in July, we committed to supporting mayors to establish good growth funds across England, putting more investment and decisions in the hands of local leaders. Today, I am updating the House on the first steps towards delivering that commitment, ahead of the Chancellor confirming the plans at the Budget.
The people best placed to help their communities should be given the freedom to invest in their future. For too long, local leaders have had to navigate a patchwork of Whitehall funding pots, making it harder to plan for the long term and use public money effectively to unlock the most important projects for economic growth. Good growth funds are designed to change that.
Today, we are confirming funding of £285 million for 2027-28, comprising good growth funds and transitional capital funding for other areas progressing towards mayoral devolution. That will give local leaders more freedom to invest in the projects their places need, from homes and town centre regeneration to infrastructure that connects people to jobs and opportunities. Importantly, when money goes back into that fund, it can be used to back new projects. That creates a virtuous cycle: public money goes further while mayors gain greater independence to plan and deliver for the long term.
I am proud to be a product of local government, and I want local government to have the means to deliver. That is why we are working with mayors to design a new £1.5 billion borrowing facility from 2028, giving them access to finance to back major local projects. We will provide strategic authorities with an additional £150 million in 2027-28 to strengthen their capacity and capability as the range of powers and responsibilities they hold grows, because devolution cannot simply mean giving local leaders more responsibility. If we expect them to take on that responsibility, they need the people, expertise and resources to deliver properly. These are first steps. The Chancellor will confirm these plans at the Budget, alongside the fiscal devolution road map, which will set out the Government’s plan for a new funding system for regional and local government in England.
I began with the commitment the Prime Minister made on his first day in Downing Street. Today’s summit at Downing Street was about keeping the momentum behind that promise—getting people off the streets, ensuring that the right help is there for them afterwards and breaking the cycle of crisis that leads people into homelessness in the first place. The Prime Minister also talked on his first day about a Government who invest in people’s successes rather than paying for failure, and that underpins all I have set out today. People can get on in life when they have a decent home, a good job and a community with the confidence and means to shape its future. That means giving people the security they need. It means giving local leaders the powers and investment to create opportunities in the places they know best. That is how we build a country where no one is written off and where every part of the country has the chance to succeed and to share in that good growth. In that spirit, I commend this statement to the House.
Lewis Cocking (Broxbourne) (Con)
I thank the Minister for advance sight of the statement.
Over the weekend, we heard yet another policy announcement made through the media, with the Prime Minister taking time out of his very busy reality TV schedule to brief the press that he will apparently end rough sleeping by Christmas. That is a laudable aim, which I think will be shared across the House by parties of all colours—I am sure everyone in this country wants to see rough sleeping fixed as an issue once and for all—but the pledge reminds me of a similar one, made almost a decade ago, in 2017, by the then Mayor of Greater Manchester, to end rough sleeping in that city region by 2020. Again, it was a nice idea, sold in a nice, upbeat way, but sadly it did not reflect the reality. Rough sleeping still exists in Greater Manchester; in fact, the numbers have risen from 2021, and the rate even doubled in 2025-26.
The Prime Minister may be in his new job—and perhaps he took inspiration from another reality TV programme, “The Traitors”, to kick out his predecessor with the help of his new Chancellor—but the Labour party is not new in government. It has been in charge now for well over two years, exactly the same period during which rough sleeping has continued to rise in Greater Manchester. The Prime Minister asked us to judge him on his record as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, so that is precisely what we are doing.
Failure in Manchester is one thing, but on a national scale the numbers are even bigger. So far, the Prime Minister has said that he will put another £432 million of taxpayers’ cash towards this approach, bringing the total commitment to £874 million. The Government themselves estimate that there are around 4,000 rough sleepers on an average night, which means the policy will cost in the region of £200,000 per rough sleeper. Will the Minister confirm that and tell us where all the money will go?
At the same time, the Prime Minister refuses to rule out tax rises or to upset his left-wing Back Benchers by cutting benefits, so the Government need to be honest about where all this money will come from. He has talked about bringing hope, he talks about positivity, and we all know his fondness for “good vibes”, but what really matters is the delivery and the detail. In the past, the Prime Minister has failed to deliver on this issue precisely. He talked a good talk, he made the grand promises, but he could not keep them on rough sleeping. We see this time and again from Labour Members, because they believe they can solve a problem just by throwing more money at it, as if money grows on a magic money tree. They need to accept that it is not their money; it is taxpayers’ money—taxpayers who are increasingly being squeezed for all that they have; taxpayers who deserve to know where their hard-earned cash is being spent and that it is being spent wisely.
I am sorry, but taxpayers are being completely let down by this Labour Government. The deficit is out of control, and rather than making the necessary cuts, they are coming back with even more spending commitments. We have a Budget later this week, and the Conservative party has been clear that the Chancellor must use it as an opportunity to properly deliver for working people across the United Kingdom. The benefits bill has to be cut, the tax burden needs to be eased on businesses and workers, and the net zero nonsense that makes our electricity and heating more expensive has to go.
Of course, all of us on this side of the House want to see rough sleeping ended, but that will only be achieved through action, not through empty promises made by a Prime Minister with a track record of failure on this issue. We need to see delivery.
When this Labour Government pledge to deliver, they fail to deliver. Perhaps the Minister can remind me how they are getting on with building the 1.5 million new homes they promised to build, as housing supply and rough sleeping are clearly linked. Why should anyone believe that they can deliver when the Prime Minister has repeatedly failed on this precise issue?
When the Labour party fails—as it always does, every time it is in government—it is always someone else’s fault. It is always someone else’s money. Labour Members can come out with all the pledges and promises they want, but at the end of the day it is the British people who have to pay for their repeated failures.
Florence Eshalomi
It is always good to see the hon. Member in his place.
We have to look at the facts of what we are dealing with. This Government inherited a homelessness and rough sleeping crisis; both rough sleeping and homelessness in temporary accommodation have more than doubled since 2010. I mentioned that I have just come from a summit earlier this morning in Downing Street, where the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and I convened a range of organisations, charities, faith leaders, civic societies and groups, and council leaders working on this important issue.
To understand the challenges of rough sleeping, we have to recognise that it is not about just putting a roof over people’s heads. For many people sleeping rough, it is about the wraparound support. It is about the long-term interventions on substance misuse. It is about support to help them manage their finances. This is what, crucially, that funding will go to. It is not about handing out £200,000 per person; it is about the many organisations who fundraise on an annual basis to address this issue. We on this side of the House are proud that this Government are committed to that, given that, to our shame, we are seeing people still sleeping rough in England in 2026.
The shadow Minister outlined the figures and statistics from Manchester. What he failed to realise and mention is the fact that the then Mayor of Greater Manchester inherited that crisis from the then Government, and that there was not enough funding to support some of the key initiatives. So the then Mayor of Greater Manchester took on that initiative, working with many charities to bring forward a programme which we are now looking to replicate in order to be able to meet this commitment.
When looking at investment and intensive support for people sleeping rough, we must listen to their lived experience—the lived experience that was shared with us this afternoon and at that summit—to ensure this is an issue not just for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to solve, but working across Departments, across Cabinet, showing that there is real commitment. Now we have a Prime Minister, Secretary of State and Minister who are really focused on looking at how we can end rough sleeping, I hope the Opposition will get on board.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
Ms Abena Oppong-Asare (Erith and Thamesmead) (Lab)
I warmly welcome the Minister’s statement. I had the opportunity to attend the summit, and I agree that prevention is the key to ending rough sleeping. I ask the Minister to implement all the Committee recommendations from the rough sleeping inquiry—I know the Government have implemented some of them. I have a specific further question: what assessment have the Government made on identifying people likely to become at risk of homelessness if the local housing allowance remains frozen at this Wednesday’s Budget?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee for her participation in this morning’s summit. She highlighted the Committee’s statement and recommendations: I hope that she agrees that this Government are going further and faster than previous Governments in addressing rough sleeping. This new cash injection will make immediate provision to address the Committee’s recommendations, help to ensure people are off the streets by Christmas and, most importantly, provide long-term and intensive wraparound support to ensure that no one ends up back on the streets. She knows that the local housing allowance is close to my heart. We continue to raise it with Treasury colleagues and I ask her to continue to press the Treasury on the matter, in the same way that I will continue to do so.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)
The Liberal Democrats welcome the Government’s commitment. We want to see an end to rough sleeping, but we have heard such pledges before. The last Conservative Government promised to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027, then brought that forward to 2024, but they achieved neither, leaving 8.5 million people in England with unmet housing needs. This attempt must do better—a catchy pre-Budget headline needs a plan behind it.
Somerset council has identified 142 bed spaces, but given that it will not know its share of the money until Wednesday, that will leave only around eight weeks for the council to deliver the spaces before Christmas. Rough sleeping is not just an urban problem: in Somerset, 80 people were found rough sleeping on a single night at the last count. In Glastonbury, 131 vans and caravans are being lived in at the roadside by people who have been priced out of a home by rents that they simply cannot afford. They do not show up in the rough sleeping count, but they are homeless in all but name. The County Councils Network warns that more than 23,000 children in rural England are growing up in temporary accommodation. None of this will be fixed without more social homes, so the Liberal Democrats would build 150,000 of them a year.
I have three questions for the Minister: is eight weeks a realistic timeframe for councils to deliver? Will the funding reach rural areas, not just our cities? And will it be backed by long-term investment in social housing, or will people be forced back on to the streets come January?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for her important questions. Local councils, strategic authorities and charities are working hand in hand with the Government to address rough sleeping. At the summit this morning, I heard people excited by the plans and the additional funding, and willing to play their part because they recognise that Government cannot do this alone. Solving this issue will take a whole-of-society approach and everyone coming together. The National Housing Federation has been working with its partners to bring forward and offer over 2,000 properties across the country, although we need many more and this is just a start.
Local councils are up for the challenge and they are working with the Government. I hope that the additional funding offers them the guarantee that the Government are committed to the issue in the long term. They had funding guaranteed only until March, but now they have funding for the next three years. We are putting our money where our mouth is to show that we are working on the issue and we are offering support in the long run.
The hon. Lady asks about rural local authorities. Rough sleeping comes in many different forms and guises across the country, and it is important for us to take a place-by-place approach. There are a range of complex reasons why people end up rough sleeping. We know that rough sleeping in urban areas is totally different from rough sleeping in coastal or rural areas, so any approach must be led by local councils, strategic authorities and local organisations who know what works best in the area.
The hon. Lady asks about our long-term building ambitions. We know that the only way that we can address the vicious cycle of people finding themselves homeless again and going back to sleeping rough is by having safe, secure and affordable social homes, like those that many hon. Members grew up in. Through the social and affordable homes programme, we are making the biggest cash injection to build those homes, and equally protecting the homes that we currently have. We have set out those plans in the Social Housing Bill, which I hope the Lib Dems will continue to support.
Darren Jones (Bristol North West) (Lab)
I thank the Minister and the Secretary of State and congratulate them on securing additional funding for this important initiative—not least because, on the basis of the submission from the shadow Minister, the Conservative party thinks that we should not be doing anything at all. I am pleased to see this Labour Government doing the right thing.
We have seen street homelessness increase in our constituencies over the years, not just in the areas where we might normally expect to see it, such as in Bristol city centre, but in vans, on the downs and in the church gardens in Shirehampton in Bristol North West. The prevalence of street homelessness has increased to unacceptable levels. Will the Minister tell us how the Department will decide how to split the pot of money it has received from the Treasury between different councils and communities across the country to ensure it gets directly to the people who need it most this winter?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my right hon. Friend for his support and for recognising the work that we are trying to do and areas where we are working to get additional funding from the Treasury. He is right about ensuring that funding goes out as quickly as possible, and we are working with a range of different councils and strategic authorities to look at how best to get that funding out. Discussions continue to go on with my officials, the Local Government Association and other council leaders to ensure that the money goes out in the most appropriate ways.
Esther McVey (Tatton) (Con)
Can the Minister clarify something for me? Over the weekend, it was revealed that criminals released early from prison under Labour’s appalling Sentencing Act 2026 were provided with tents, because no accommodation was available for them. Those are criminals who are now out on the street and homeless. Can the Minister let me know if some of the £874 million for homeless people goes to finding accommodation for those early-release criminals? If there is no accommodation for those criminals, where is the accommodation coming from for homeless people?
Florence Eshalomi
One of the key pressures that we see is the revolving door of criminals being released with nowhere to go. This is about how we tackle and address the stigma with criminals coming out from prison. We are working closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice to identify and ensure that before prisoners are released, they have somewhere safe and secure to go. Ultimately, this is about looking at where the funding is going. With regard to the right hon. Lady’s comment about the tents, I am not aware of that, but I am happy to provide her with additional information.
Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
I welcome this statement and the commitment of the Prime Minister and the Government. I note that in the Minister’s statement, she talked about the commitment being to offer everyone sleeping rough a route off the streets this Christmas. We know that during covid, some people were offered accommodation who were so used to living on the streets that they were not able to take it; in Hackney, the excellent lead on homelessness took a really pragmatic approach to dealing with that issue in the short term. Does the Minister have any idea of the percentage of people who will be affected by that issue and how they will get wraparound support if they refuse to take accommodation?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that really important question. The Routes off the Street initiative has to be tailored to a person’s individual circumstances—that could mean accommodation, support or both. Support could include things around mental health, substance misuse, employment or training, or support to access and maintain accommodation. One comment I heard at the summit was about someone who had been sleeping rough for many years who, even when offered accommodation, chose to sleep in a sleeping bag. We have to recognise that for many people, this is not just about securing accommodation; we have to take a tailored and individual approach to how we help people, with many of them suffering long-term trauma and needing additional support. It is vital that we continue to work with colleagues across the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care in looking at the additional support that will help people to stay off the streets.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
The Prime Minister has said that wider society, especially the faith and voluntary sectors, will need to play their part in ending rough sleeping, but voluntary groups such as Woking’s homeless shelter, the York Road Project, are already overstretched and underfunded. How will the Minister ensure that the voluntary sector is supported and funded to end rough sleeping both this year and in future years in the long term?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that important question. He is right that many voluntary groups, including faith groups, have been doing this for many years, with little or, in some cases, no funding. Many have been driving national fundraising campaigns, many have been crowdfunding, and especially as we get closer to Christmas, many will be asking their members, their congregation and their supporters to campaign and donate. What we are doing with this national drive is bringing together different resources and perspectives to share those best practices and learning, and looking at how we can unlock more progress by building an alliance and healthy coalitions. As I mentioned, this issue will not be solved by the Government alone; it is also about working with groups that have a long history in this area and ensuring that they are adequately supported. That is one of the areas we will be looking at.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
Over the years we have worked incredibly hard in York, across multiple agencies, to end rough sleeping by looking at the holistic needs of people who were out on the streets. I am pleased to say that we have cracked that nut. However, we have a challenge in the way the funding works for people with no local connection. Will the Minister say a bit more about how we can ensure that such people receive funding in the place where they are choosing to stay and that there is a proper transfer of resources?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point. It shows that where local councils are working really well to tackle this issue, they are coming together and working with different community groups, faith groups and voluntary organisations. It is that kind of example that we want to learn from and replicate right across the country to address this issue.
With regard to my hon. Friend’s specific question on people who may not have any local connection, we are introducing legislation to provide for a duty to collaborate, and looking at how we can help people who are identified as being at risk of homelessness; identify them earlier so that the right support pathways can be provided to them; and connect them to other services, if the local council cannot support them.
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
I welcome the ambition of the Minister—and the Prime Minister—and I hope that she will succeed. The visible signs of homelessness are people sleeping rough on our streets, but in any one day there are 300,000 people sofa surfing who may end up on the streets tomorrow. Anyone who is rough sleeping now will be suffering in their mental and physical health. They may be addicted to drink or drugs, or they may be on the streets because of gambling—every case is unique. As the Minister rightly says, it is not just about putting a roof over someone’s head; it is about building a network of support around them.
There are two things that I would ask. First, we know what works. Housing First works—building a network of support around the person to enable them to rebuild their life. The second issue is those rogue landlords who will exploit vulnerable people. The Minister knows what is coming next. When can we get my Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 in place so that we can stop those rogue landlords exploiting people, and potentially taking much of the money that the Government are offering?
Florence Eshalomi
I commend the hon. Gentleman for the work that he had done on this issue over many years, and the work that he led to push the then Conservative Government on their manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024. I declare that he and I briefly co-chaired the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness. We have to work together cross-party to address this really important issue.
The hon. Gentleman knows the principles of Housing First, which involve inclusive, up-front support so that people who have been sleeping rough for a long time can move away from the streets into safe, secure accommodation where they feel valued, listened to and loved—and feel hope—and can look at how they can support themselves, before they go on to independent living. That is a key initiative that many successive Governments have known works, and it is something that we want to build on as we expand it. With regard to his second point, this is an area that, again, is very close to my heart, and it is something for which hopefully he will not have to wait much longer.
Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)
My constituency consistently has the highest number of rough sleepers in the country. This is not a statistic that we welcome. I was grateful for the opportunity to attend the Prime Minister and the Minister’s rough sleeping summit today, and to visit The Connection at St Martin’s in my constituency, where I spoke to people who have been sleeping rough and the frontline workers who work every single day to help people off the streets. This sustained funding will make a real difference, and we cannot overestimate the impact that it will have. Will the Minister comment on how local authorities should collaborate in the future on local connection, in relation to how that issue prevents some people from finding a sustainable home, and on the commissioning of detox and recovery services, which have been fragmented for far too long? The fact that these things are so fragmented is holding people back from the recovery that they so desperately need.
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for her comments and support. We were able to visit an organisation in Victoria in her constituency a few weeks ago, a fantastic charity called Change Please, to speak to people who have been helped. It offers people who are sleeping rough and facing homelessness an employment opportunity and vital skills so that they can provide for themselves and secure their rent and accommodation. We want such initiatives rolled out across the country, giving people who are sleeping rough and facing homelessness another chance. On her question about people with no local connections, this is an area that many local authorities continue to raise with us. We are having more discussions with them, especially with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office. On her question about the funding package, this is an area we will continue to explore. I hope she will continue to engage with Ministry officials on that.
Sir Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge) (Con)
I invite the Minister to join me on a tour of the beautiful town of Stone in my constituency. As we walk down the high street, she will see the grade II* listed Crown Hotel, which is sadly slowly degrading because the owners are not putting in the investment that is required. To me, the good growth fund sounds like a brilliant opportunity for Stafford borough council to look at compulsory purchasing that building and ensuring that the investment required to bring it back to life is put in. However, we do not have elected mayors in Staffordshire, so how can authorities such as Stafford borough council access this money to deliver growth and investment in our town centres?
Florence Eshalomi
The right hon. Gentleman raises a valid point about areas without mayoral strategic authorities. We are ensuring that we can work with local councils. We continue to engage with areas without mayoral strategic authorities so that they, too, will not lose out on this vital funding. I ask him to continue to engage and ensure that his authority gets that funding.
Several hon. Members rose—
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for that important question. I highlighted the fact that, for many people leaving prison, a secure and safe accommodation may not be waiting at the end, so we are looking at working more closely with colleagues in the MOJ and across the prison estate to ensure that people leaving prison go to somewhere safe. The Secretary of State continues to press that with other Cabinet members and it is something we regularly discuss at the interministerial group, where all colleagues come together to discuss that. With regard to her question about reporting and the figures base, I will take that back to officials.
Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)
Stonepillow is a local charity tackling homelessness on the streets of Chichester. One of its most vital services is the day hubs, where people can engage if they are at risk of, or are experiencing, homelessness, importantly without any judgment. So much of the Government’s previous funding has been crisis funding, but prevention work, as the Minister knows, is a key part of tackling the root causes and cycles of homelessness. If this programme is designed to be locally led, does the Minister see value in encouraging local leaders to direct some of the funding to outreach services such as the day hubs, which are currently working on an annual cycle and do not have the structure to know that they will survive?
Florence Eshalomi
The hon. Member has given a crucial example of where this works well, but, as she says, some charities and other organisations have been working with very little funding. I ask her to engage with her council to ensure that the vital funds that every area will receive are going to the right organisations. I will be happy to provide her with more details in that regard.
Andrew Ranger (Wrexham) (Lab)
I welcome the measures that the Minister has announced. However, over the weekend volunteers have reported to me that homeless people from Wrexham, in Wales, are being put up in temporary accommodation over the border in Chester, where they are being exposed to significant drug abuse and similar problems. Housing is devolved, but this matter crosses the border. What work is the Minister doing with the Welsh Government on safeguarding standards of cross-border care, and what funding will flow to Wales as a result of what she has announced?
Florence Eshalomi
My hon. Friend raises the important issue, which comes up often, of out-of-borough placements in temporary accommodation. We continue to discuss that with the devolved Administrations and representatives of other local areas where we are seeing an increase in the number of people being placed out of borough and the pressures that it is causing in local communities. Issues relating to community cohesion fall within my responsibility and I continue to monitor that closely.
Mike Wood (Kingswinford and South Staffordshire) (Con)
I think that all Members will support these proposals and hope that they succeed, but in order for new plans to be successful, it helps to understand why previous schemes might not have been. Given that last year the national homelessness strategy promised to halve rough sleeping over the course of this Parliament, with an uplift in funding, why does the Minister think that in the year to June this year homelessness was up compared to the previous year, and why is she confident that her plan will do better?
Florence Eshalomi
What we are seeing with this new focus on homelessness is support, from the very top: support from the Prime Minister, who made it his mission, on the steps of Downing Street, to ensure that this country would not continue to watch people sleeping rough. That support is now being backed by crucial funding to help local areas to design schemes to ensure that people come off the streets. However, we are not stopping there, because it is not just about the street and a bed for Christmas; it is about long-term support. The hon. Gentleman referred to what failed, and why homelessness went up. He will find that more people will gravitate towards an area where a project or initiative has been successful. We are trying to ensure that there is support across the country, so that every area is helped to deal with rough sleeping and homelessness.
Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)
This year I have convened a taskforce in Stoke-on-Trent with key service providers and people with lived experience to tackle the issue of homelessness for those who experience substance misuse. A particular challenge is enabling them to receive mental health treatment concurrently with drug and alcohol treatment. Does the Minister agree that it is absolutely vital for those providing mental health support to work concurrently with all other service providers to provide a sustainable pathway to recovery for this vulnerable group, and will she take me up on my offer, visit my constituency, and perhaps attend a taskforce meeting?
Florence Eshalomi
My hon. Friend has asked me to visit her constituency and, diary permitting, I will look at that. She is right: many people who are sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness face a number of complex challenges and needs which, in some cases, fall to very stretched mental health provision and substance misuse services across the country. We want to continue that vital partnership work with colleagues and the NHS to ensure that those local services are helping people by providing the right pathway of support before they are housed.
Sarah Pochin (Runcorn and Helsby) (Reform)
While the Minister’s statement is laudable, it seems that her Department is working against the Ministry of Justice by moving in what is clearly a different direction. May I point out that when prisoners—dangerous criminals—are released early on to our streets with no fixed abode, they cannot be tagged? If they are sleeping rough, they cannot be tagged. Will the Minister make it a priority to house those criminals, those early-release prisoners, so that the public can be protected?
Florence Eshalomi
I will take that back to colleagues in the MOJ, but we cannot force anybody into housing. We have to assess people on an individual basis.
Andrew Pakes (Peterborough) (Lab/Co-op)
The mission of social justice runs through all faith organisations in this country, and nowhere is that greater than in the work of churches in tackling homelessness and helping to give people a second or third chance in life. It was a privilege to attend today’s rough sleeping summit alongside my hon. Friend and so many faith organisations from across this country. In my constituency, projects such as the Salvation Army, the Light Project and Hope into Action have worked on this agenda for years. Can my hon. Friend reassure us that faith organisations, and the expertise, care and love that they provide in our communities, will be central to the new strategy going forward?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for his comments, and I am pleased to hear that he found the summit inspiring, challenging, meaningful and purposeful as we came together to address rough sleeping. He is absolutely right: faith communities right across the UK have been doing a lot of work in this area, and they have provided charity and support for so many people. In some cases, people have turned away and shunned them. People have harassed and attacked them, but faith communities continue to open their doors. It is vital that we continue to work with faith communities and the voluntary sector in addressing this mission.
Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)
One in six care leavers experiences rough sleeping, and last week I met representatives of Step by Step, which supports young people in Dorset and across the south. They told me that young people in supported housing and foyers dread the cliff edge of their 18th birthday because it can mean eviction, as benefits assume that young people are living at home. What will the Minister do with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions to specifically support care leavers with the full rate of universal credit, so that they do not end up on the streets at the very moment they achieve adulthood?
Florence Eshalomi
This is a key area that we discuss, and I continue to discuss it with the Minister with responsibility. I hope that we will soon have some additional updates for the hon. Member. It is vital that we recognise that many young people might still not be able to live independently once they hit 18, and it is important that we look at support for them as they transition into adulthood.
Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for her statement, and for the £874 million investment into ending rough sleeping. I particularly welcome this Government giving local leaders the power to make decisions that work best for their own areas. Given the very different character of rough sleeping in Ealing Southall, where the vast majority have no recourse to public funds, will she work with Ealing council and Hope for Southall Street Homeless, based at St Anselm’s church, to give them the funding and powers they need, so that the very unique circumstances for rough sleepers in Ealing Southall can be addressed?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for making that important point. She is absolutely right: in many inner urban areas, we find a lot of people without recourse to public funds. It is vital that local authorities exercise discretion about local connections and people who have no recourse to public funds, which should not be a barrier to accessing support. Local authorities have to assess individuals based on their needs, including accommodation, and refer them to additional and appropriate services to help them.
Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)
I recently attended a veterans breakfast at HMP Berwyn, the huge prison that serves north Wales and much of north-west England. I was told by representatives of veterans charities that arranging housing across the border—particularly for veterans, many of whom do not have family associations with local authorities—is particularly difficult. Could the Minister look into cross-border issues in relation to prisoner release, particularly across the border between England and Wales?
Florence Eshalomi
I am happy to look into that and come back to the right hon. Lady.
Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)
Today’s announcement is a hugely important step forward, as is having a Prime Minister who has put ending rough sleeping at front and centre of the political agenda. As a patron of Doncaster Housing for Young People, I see the difference that wraparound support makes to people who are vulnerable to homelessness. Will the Government ensure that we measure success not just by the number of people helped off the streets, but by how many people are able to rebuild their lives and remain in secure accommodation for the longer term?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that vital point. As I have highlighted, this is not just about giving people a roof over their heads for Christmas; this is about the long-term support, including vital wraparound support, to help people stay off the streets and make a meaningful contribution to society. A number of people who find themselves sleeping rough or in homelessness want to go back and offer their vital employment and training skills, so it is vital that we look not just at a bed for Christmas, but at the support afterwards.
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Your Party)
I absolutely welcome the statement. To achieve the aims the Minister has outlined, could she please end the “intentionally homeless” rule, which is often cruelly applied to people who end up homeless; will she increase the local housing allowance to a realistic level compared with local rents; and, finally, will she intervene to stop housing associations selling off empty properties in areas of high housing stress when they should be housing people in desperate housing need, not sold on the open market?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising those vital points. He is absolutely right about looking at the “intentionally homeless” terminology, which I know colleagues are continuing to look at. I and other Ministers press the matter of local housing allowance with the Treasury, and we will continue to do so. On housing associations and councils selling off some of their empty properties, it is vital that housing associations and councils have the capital funding to bring such properties back into use, and we will continue to work with them on how they manage those properties.
Tom Collins (Worcester) (Lab)
In Worcester, I recently hosted a summit attended by representatives of over 30 organisations, from the national Government to regional agencies and authorities, and all the way to local charities and churches, which all pledged to work together to end rough sleeping in Worcester. One outcome of that summit was that it was clear that we need not only more resources, which are incredibly welcome; we also need to change the way of working. When people are affected by long-term ill health or disabilities, or the effects of crime and trauma, they need holistic support delivered relationally. This cuts across all Government Departments and services. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we might roll out, across Government, a change that wraps around people?
Florence Eshalomi
It seems as though my hon. Friend jumped the gun and held his own summit before we did at No. 10 today! It is good to hear about the lessons learned there. It sounds similar to what happened at the No. 10 summit, where organisations, charities, civic society, local leaders, local authorities and businesses all came together to make a pledge to work towards resolving this issue. It is vital that we learn lessons from such summits, and I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend.
Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)
I really recognise the Minister’s description of councils jumping through hoops to access a patchwork of funding pots. That is certainly the case for Mid Sussex district council, which was successful in accessing central Government money to buy temporary accommodation that is providing absolutely vital homes in our district. However, when it comes to regenerating Burgess Hill town centre, it does not matter whether it is a Conservative or a Labour Government; we have been unsuccessful in accessing levelling-up funding, and last week Burgess Hill town council wrote to me about its not receiving any Pride in Place money. Will the Minister visit Burgess Hill to see the work that we are doing?
Florence Eshalomi
It is good to make sure that I am getting out of south London, so I will look—diary permitting—at coming to see that work, which is right and important. This Government are removing some of the ringfence that comes with the vital funding that councils need. I hope the hon. Member’s council will be successful in the new round.
Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank the Minister for her statement, and indeed this Government for their willingness to grasp the nettle in order to end rough sleeping and homelessness. I am grateful that she mentioned temporary accommodation and the wider impact, particularly on children, of not having somewhere to permanently call home. The number of children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland has risen by 22% since 2022, despite the Scottish Government declaring a housing emergency in 2024. What conversations has she had with the Scottish Government about how, if both Governments are to be successful in meeting their goals of ending child poverty, they are tackling the number of families languishing in temporary accommodation?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that vital point. It is really sad to see that increase of 22%, and it is a shame that no SNP Members are here as we try to hold their Government to account. We will continue to press the devolved Administrations, and work to closely with them, to ensure that no child is left behind.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister very much for her statement. It is good to hear that her voice has recuperated after Thursday’s debate on Black Lives Matter.
When it comes to the £432 million that has been allocated, churches across this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland do lots of work for homeless people, including in Northern Ireland. The Salvation Army that operates in my constituency of Strangford operates across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as do veterans charities. In other words, the charities that work in Northern Ireland and here do the same work. What can be done to ensure that charities working in Northern Ireland can also receive some of this help, and will the Minister give an undertaking to work with the Minister for Communities in the Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure that delivery can happen across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Florence Eshalomi
It is always a pleasure to take a question from the hon. Gentleman, and I thank him for raising the vital work in his constituency and across Northern Ireland. This funding is new money, and an additional part of it will be agreed in the Budget process with the Treasury. He will be aware that, as part of the normal Barnett consequentials, this will apply to all the devolved Administrations, so they will also receive the additional funding.
Steve Race (Exeter) (Lab)
I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as I am very proud patron of Exeter’s local homelessness charity, St Petrock’s. I was very grateful for the opportunity to join the Minister this morning at the No. 10 rough sleeping summit to set out Exeter’s experiences, as we have one of the highest and increasing levels of rough sleeping in the country. The Prime Minister made the point that we need to treat people as people, not as numbers. That is absolutely the way of local charities, like CoLab and St Petrock’s, which know these people individually, and they should lead the way. Does the Minister agree that statutory services, like the NHS and the Prison Service, really need to step up and come on this journey with us, too?
Florence Eshalomi
It is good to see that many local areas are sharing their experience of dealing with this matter. We have to be honest: a person sleeping rough costs the taxpayer on average about £14,000 a year in public service use, so it is really important that we are working across different Departments. This is not just an issue for MHCLG. There has to be a whole-of-Government approach, and I am really pleased that we have a strong interministerial group to address this.
David Williams (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Lab)
Having worked for our local YMCA in Stoke-on-Trent for nearly two decades before entering this place, this issue is personal to me, so I warmly welcome the statement. I was also so pleased to attend the homelessness summit at No. 10 earlier today. At that summit, the Prime Minister rightly talked about seeing people—getting to know their names—and not treating them as numbers and statistics. This is about giving people what we all need in life: it is about love, hope and dignity. We have heard today about the important role played by the voluntary sector. Does the Minister agree that voluntary and community sector partners are absolutely critical to getting this right, as they are they are rooted in the communities they serve? Can I offer her a visit to meet some of our fantastic organisations up in Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for the expertise and knowledge he brings to these matters, and for some of the comments he shared with me today about how we can address them. He is absolutely right about the work led by many voluntary and charity groups right across the country, working hand in hand regardless of which Government are in control. These groups continue to work with people who, in some cases, society has said are too hard to reach. They are not hard to reach; we just do not know how to reach them.
Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)
In the Thames valley, as with much of the south-east, the key driver of homelessness is high house prices. Many of the measures announced today and over recent months, while welcome, are focused in areas with mayors. In the south-east, however, devolution has stalled, meaning that some of these levers will not be available. Can I urge the Minister and the Secretary of State, who was sitting next to the Minister earlier, to get on with delivering devolution across the south-east so that we can tackle the issue of homelessness in areas with high house prices, including the Thames valley?
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my hon. Friend for that important question. He is right: this is our devolution revolution, and we are working hard to ensure it happens across the country.
Gordon McKee (Glasgow South) (Lab)
One person sleeping rough is one person too many, but recently published figures show that 793 people have been left to sleep on the street in Glasgow this year alone. I agree with the Minister’s assessment that the best way to tackle this is with properly empowered and properly resourced local government. Will she restate and expand on the Prime Minister’s offer to work with the Scottish Government to empower local governments, so that together we can ensure that no one is left to sleep rough in Glasgow or anywhere else in the country?
Florence Eshalomi
That was a key statement from the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and me, as the Minister with responsibility for this area. We have to work across the aisles, we have to work with devolved nations and we have to work with charities and businesses. A range of people at that summit today were stepping up to that mantra, and it is important that our local authority leaders take on that challenge.
Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)
I applaud both the Minister’s ambition to get to zero rough sleeping and the money on the table to get there, but does she agree that the key to achieving that objective is the Government, councils and third sector organisations working together to provide a pathway off the streets into sustained accommodation, with support on every step of that journey for the homeless person? Will she join me in paying tribute to Porchlight in my constituency, which has been working across Kent over the past 50 years to get rough sleepers off the street? It does fantastic work with the NHS and St Edmund church to support rough sleepers in Dartford.
Florence Eshalomi
I join my hon. Friend in supporting Porchlight’s 50 years of work. May it continue with that support for many more years. He is right that we need that wider programme, working with different organisations, groups, charities, faith groups, civic society and businesses to look at that long-term, tailored support to help people off the streets.
Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank the Minister for her statement. As someone who worked for a homeless charity, the wonderful Streets2Homes in my constituency of Harlow, this statement and this Government’s ongoing commitment to tackling rough sleeping are hugely important to me. The Minister has recognised the importance of the charity and voluntary sector to tackling rough sleeping in some of the answers she has given so far. That is not just Streets2Homes, but organisations such as Open Road, which helps to tackle alcohol addiction in Harlow. Often the funding for the VCS is sporadic, not long term and postcode dependent. What will the Minister do to ensure that brilliant charities such as Streets2Homes and Open Road get the long-term support and funding they need to tackle rough sleeping and the causes of rough sleeping?
Florence Eshalomi
It is always good to see my hon. Friend from Harlow recognising the many charities across his constituency. Many charities and voluntary groups right across the country are working on this important area. The hon. Gentleman and other Members will have seen many organisations saying that they wanted certainty in that funding. I hope that this increased funding will give those organisations that certainty, ensuring that this work continues not just up to Christmas, but after Christmas. This is a key commitment from the Prime Minister, and we will honour it.