Government announces new £30m fund to help eradicate homelessness
3 min read
Ministers have unveiled a new £30m package aimed at tackling the growing numbers of rough sleepers.
The new funding will be made available to councils with the highest levels of people living on the streets as part of the Government's plans to eliminate the problem by 2027.
A special taskforce made up of homelessness experts has also been set up to examine the various factors which lead to people becoming homeless and how to tackle them.
The announcement comes amid intense criticism of the Government’s response to the estimated 4,700 rough sleepers in England.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said: "This winter has tragically claimed the lives of a number of people sleeping on the streets. This is completely unacceptable in modern Britain.
"No one should ever have to sleep rough and this Government is determined to break the homelessness cycle once and for all."
He added: “Tackling the causes of rough sleeping is undoubtedly complex but we must do all we can – working across central and local government, the voluntary and charity sector – to help the most vulnerable in society and eliminate rough sleeping for good.”
But Shadow Housing Secretary John Health described the Government’s ambitions as “feeble”.
He said: “This is a pitiful response to a national crisis that has grown worse every year since 2010.
“Ministers’ ambitions are so feeble that even if they do what they say they will, rough sleeping will still be higher at the end of this parliament than it was in 2010.
“You can’t help the homeless if you won’t provide the homes, and the money announced here is less than 1% of the Conservatives’ annual cut to funding for new low-cost housing.
“More hot air won’t help the homeless. Ministers should back Labour’s plan to end rough sleeping within one term, starting by making 8,000 homes available for rough sleepers.”
Greg Beales, campaigns director at Shelter, said that the plans would make a "genuine difference" but said more cash would be needed in future.
He said: "We’re glad the Government is now taking seriously the worsening homelessness crisis that is destroying people’s lives on our streets. The money and manpower announced will make a genuine difference, but this will only work if it is a down-payment with much more to come in the forthcoming national rough-sleeping strategy.
"You cannot break the cycle of homelessness for good without putting in place proper safety nets to keep people off the streets in the first place, and without thinking about where they will actually live in the long-term.
"Most of these people became homeless simply because they couldn’t afford anywhere to live, a situation made far worse by welfare cuts.
"We very much hope that the Government’s new strategy will go far enough in removing the barriers that deny people a safe, secure and affordable home. That means building more social homes to rent, and making sure housing benefit is fit for purpose."
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