Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of effect of the proposals in his Department's paper, Funding for Suported Housing published on 31 October 2017, on the provision of new short-term supported housing (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, (c) 2022-23, (d) 2023-24 and (e) 2024-25.

The same amount of funding that would have been available through Housing Benefit or housing element of Universal Credit to fund supported housing in 2020/21 will be made available as grant instead.

The amount of short term supported housing grant funding for subsequent years will be set on the basis of current projections of future need (as informed by discussions with local authorities) and will continue to take account of the costs of provision in this part of the sector.

The short-term accommodation grant will remove the financial risk that providers face in relation to voids and arrears, enabling organisations to focus on the most important task of supporting their vulnerable tenants. It will also help people to move-on without carrying a legacy of rent arrears and debt.