Government allocates £66 million toward tackling winter homelessness
Rough sleepers will be helped into safe and warm accommodation and treatment services for drug and alcohol dependency this winter, supported by an extra £66 million the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced today.
The support will help rough sleepers off the streets at a time of year when they face falling temperatures.
The government claims this funding will build on the success of the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, which supported 37,000 vulnerable people into longer term accommodation during the pandemic, this support will continue to help rough sleepers off the streets.
The government has a commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024.
In a statement today, the government claimed that rough sleeping has already been reduced by over a third.
There was indeed a decrease of 37% in homelessness between 2019 and 2020. However the figures for people rough sleeping has increased by 52% since 2010, according to Homeless Link analysis.
The £640 million will be invested each year over the next 3 years to tackle the issue – a 85% increase in funding compared to 2019.
Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing, Eddie Hughes MP said: “Rough sleepers are some of the most vulnerable people in our society and we must help them off the streets and end the plight of rough sleeping once and for all.
“That means providing somewhere safe and warm for them to stay, and this funding will be a lifeline for thousands as the temperature drops this winter.
“We are also helping those trapped in drug and alcohol addiction and giving them the stability they need to turn their lives around.”
Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, the national membership charity for homeless services in England which provides support to around 550 organisations, said: “As the winter months approach, it’s vital organisations have the capacity to provide single room accommodation to help reduce the number of people sleeping rough, while minimising the risk of spreading COVID-19.”
