Prime Minster announces increased funding and multi-agency summit

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced immediate action to offer everyone who needs it a route off the streets by Christmas, backed by increased funding of £442 million.

New accommodation and support will be rolled out across England this winter, learning from innovative approaches put into place during the pandemic.

Alongside emergency accommodation, the programme will offer practical help with housing, health and other needs, fully funded within Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government budgets.

The additional £102m, which follows the PM’s announcement of £340m of funding in July, is to be used to fund a range of support, including uplifting the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund.

The PM has also announced he will host a national summit in the autumn to bring together leaders from across society – from business, finance, charities, health, faith communities and more – to ask what role each of them can play in ending rough sleeping.

Under a boosted £442 million package, areas with the greatest need will receive the largest share of support, to get people out of the cold this winter and give people facing long-term homelessness a settled home and the support to keep it.

Research from Crisis suggests preventing 40,000 people from becoming homeless for a year could save taxpayers around £370 million.

Burnham said: “No-one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station. But we’ve seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it.

“I won’t accept it. That’s why my first instruction as Prime Minister was to end rough sleeping. And it’s why today we’re getting started with a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas.

“We did it in the pandemic. We can do it again. But it needs all of us. Government will put the money in. But I’m asking leaders in communities and sectors across society to play their part locally too. Let’s get people out of the cold. And let’s bring back hope.”

The Government is publishing guidance to help local areas mobilise quickly, making clear the need to ensure adequate and accessible provision for women experiencing rough sleeping, recognising that women are often underrepresented in official statistics and may be at greater risk of violence, abuse and exploitation.

Lord Bird, the co-founder of the Big Issue and a crossbench peer, said: “COVID proved that when we decide rough sleeping is unacceptable, we can act and get people in off the streets. This Christmas commitment is a welcome return to that spirit.

“But it’s important that people are not just brought in from the cold for a few weeks, only to be sent back out again. To that end, I’m encouraged to see the Prime Minister is allocating millions in tried-and-tested localised solutions that offer wraparound support for long-term rough sleepers.

“Countless projects and pilots demonstrated this approach works, only to be suffocated by the underinvestment and short-termist mindset of the previous government.

“In all my years at the Big Issue, I’ve never met a rough sleeper whose only problem was homelessness. Rough sleeping is a destination after years of untreated issues, like mental health problems, abuse and substance addictions – none of which simply vanishes when you get a roof over someone’s head. Instead, we must start treating the causes of homelessness and begin the process of getting people back into society.”