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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he will take through the Rough Sleeping Strategy to eradicate homelessness in Hendon constituency.

This Government is clear that no one should be without a roof over their head. That is why we have committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament and to enforcing the Homelessness Reduction Act. The Government have allocated £437 million to tackle homelessness over 2020/2021. This marks an additional £69 million on what Government provided in 2019/20.

The Homelessness Reduction Act, the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades, came into force on 3 April 2018. It placed new duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness. Government have allocated £5,129,847 to the London Borough of Barnet for 20/21 to support them in delivering their duties under the Act. Barnet have also been allocated £636,845 for 20/21 as part of the Rough Sleeping Initiative. The Rough Sleeping Initiative funding is being used by councils to implement a number of initiatives which includes the following:

• Create street-based services including outreach teams who will locate and support rough sleepers directly on the streets and offer them access to services;

• Establish first stage accommodation such as hostels, Somewhere Safe to Stay hubs and emergency access beds which provide warm and dry shelter, rapid assessment, and support to people who are already - or at risk of - sleeping rough;

• Set up housing support providing stable, affordable accommodation and intensive wrap-around support to help people who are sleeping rough recover from complex issues and sustain their tenancies;

• Introduce specialist support workers including Rough Sleeping Coordinators, navigators, and specialist health and care staff.