Sleeping Rough

(asked on 11th October 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department plans to make available to local authorities to support rough sleepers during winter 2018-19.


Answered by
Heather Wheeler Portrait
Heather Wheeler
This question was answered on 16th October 2018

In March this year, we announced the Rough Sleeping Initiative, which provided £30 million to 83 local authorities with high levels of rough sleeping. This represents a significant increase in support local authorities are able to offer people now and also those at risk this coming winter.

This funding will go towards over 500 new dedicated homelessness workers and an additional 1,750 bed spaces. We expect this additional provision to be fully in place before the beginning of the winter period.

To support local authorities to prepare for cold weather, Homeless Link provide guidance on the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP), which can be found on their website at the following link: https://www.homeless.org.uk/our-work/resources/guidance-on-severe-weather-emergency-protocol-swep-and-extended-weather-provision.

It is our expectation that local authorities will work together with partners to provide basic emergency accommodation to minimise the risk of harm to individuals when the temperature drops.

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