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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of incorporating the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant into the Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant on the ability of Housing First providers to (a) retain specialist staff, (b) maintain caseloads and (c) provide long-term support.

The government funded Housing First services through the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25, and local authorities could choose whether to continue to fund or commission services which meet the needs of their local areas, including Housing First services in 2025/26 using their Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant funding and in 2026/27 through the Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant.

Consolidating homelessness and rough sleeping revenue grant funding through the Homelessness, Rough Sleeping and Domestic Abuse Grant has given local authorities greater flexibility and discretion to allocate resources in a way that best delivers on our shared objectives for homelessness and rough sleeping. This can and does include areas commissioning Housing First.