Fury as number of homeless kids soars by 75% since Tories came to power
2 min read
Labour has lashed out at the Government after it emerged the number of homeless kids has rocketed by 75% since the Conservatives came to power.
There were almost 70,000 children living in temporary accommodation at the end of 2010 compared with 120,500 at the end of last year, official figures revealed today.
Meanwhile, the overall number of households in temporary accommodation has shot up by 64% in the same period - from 48,000 to almost 80,000.
Shadow Housing Minister Melanie Onn said the latest figures were “a terrible reminder of the consequences of the Conservatives’ eight years of failure on housing”.
She added: “These out of control figures are the direct consequence of decisions made by Conservative ministers – whether it’s the drop-off in funding for affordable homes, the botched introduction of universal credit, reduced support for homelessness services or the lack of action to help private renters.
“Labour will end rough sleeping within our first five years in Government and tackle the root causes of homelessness. We will build 100,000 homes a year for genuinely affordable rent or sale, give new rights to private renters and safeguard homeless hostels and supported housing from crude Conservative cuts to housing benefit.”
ROUGH SLEEPING
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats pointed out that the number of people sleeping on the streets had risen by a third in just two years - from 3,569 in 2015 to 4,751 in 2017.
A spokesperson said the situation for rough sleepers was “spiralling out of control”.
They added that the Government “must ensure that all local authorities have what they need to tackle this problem”.
In a speech earlier this month, Theresa May said the soaring homeless numbers in Britain were “a source of national shame”.
She added: “That’s why we pledged in our manifesto to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it altogether by 2027.
“We’ve already committed £1bn to help bring this about, and are piloting the Housing First approach in three of our great cities to see how it can work in this country."
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