Sleeping Rough

(asked on 16th September 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department plans to take to prevent rough sleeping in (a) London and (b) England in winter 2020-21.


Answered by
Kelly Tolhurst Portrait
Kelly Tolhurst
This question was answered on 25th September 2020

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic almost 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation.

We are taking steps to protect vulnerable rough sleepers from COVID-19 and we are continuing to work hard to move vulnerable people away from the streets and into long-term, sustainable accommodation.

The Next Steps Accommodation Programme makes available the financial resources needed to support local authorities and their partners to prevent those accommodated from returning to the streets. £161 million will deliver 3,300 units of?longer-term move-on accommodation?in 2020/2021. This is part of a total of £433 million to provide 6,000 long term, safe homes for those in need.

£105 million?will pay for immediate support and interim accommodation to ensure that people do not return to the streets.?On 17 September we announced allocations for the short-term aspect of this fund. 274 local authorities will now share £91.5 million of funding, helping to make life-changing differences to our most vulnerable by helping to support them to rebuild their lives and addressing complex needs such as substance misuse and mental health issues. We will continue to work with local authorities to allocate remaining funds to new or emerging challenges.

In 2020/21, £112 million has also been allocated to 276 local authorities through the Rough Sleeping Initiative, supporting the establishment or enhancement of coordinated local services for rough sleepers or those at risk of sleeping rough.

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