-
PM confirms an extra £236 million to help get rough
sleepers off the street
-
Dame Louise Casey to undertake a review into rough
sleeping
-
The PM visits homelessness charity as new data comes
out this morning
The Prime Minister has announced an extra £236
million to help get people off the streets and appointed an
independent adviser to lead an urgent review into the causes of
rough sleeping.
The new funding will go towards offering
Housing First style ‘move on’ accommodation for up to 6,000 rough
sleepers and those at immediate risk of rough sleeping, to give
them stability and certainty over the long-term.
Dame Louise Casey has been appointed to
undertake a review into rough sleeping that will provide the
Government with advice on additional action required to end rough
sleeping within this Parliament.
Dame Louise has decades of experience both in
the rough sleeping sector and within Government and is
excellently placed to provide Government with advice on what is
needed to end rough sleeping.
will also be
appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to with specific responsibility
for rough sleeping.
This announcement comes ahead of the
publication of new annual figures on the numbers of rough
sleepers, and before a visit by the Prime Minister to a
homelessness charity.
Speaking ahead of a visit to a
homelessness charity, Prime Minister said:
“It is simply unacceptable that we still
have so many people sleeping on the streets, and I am absolutely
determined to end rough sleeping once and for
all.
“Today I’ve announced extra funding to
help thousands more people get off the streets, and I have
appointed Dame Louise Casey as an adviser to undertake an urgent
review into the causes of rough sleeping and provide expert
advice on vital next steps.
“We must tackle the scourge of rough
sleeping urgently, and I will not stop until the thousands of
people in this situation are helped off the streets and their
lives have been rebuilt.”
The new funding will bring suitable housing
forward by acquiring new units, refurbishing existing
accommodation units, and leasing private rented sector properties
specifically for those who are rough sleeping or at risk of rough
sleeping.
Dame Louise will report to the Prime Minister
and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local
Government. She will consider as part of the urgent review the
links between 24-hour street activity and rough sleeping and how
best we can support this group. It will also look into those
struggling with drug and alcohol misuse, and those with physical
and mental health issues.
The appointment of Dame Louise and the new
funding are the latest measures to support rough sleepers.
The Government has already committed £437
million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in 2020/21.
This includes more than £112 million last year to fund services
for people sleeping rough through the Rough Sleeping Initiative.
This funding will be used by councils to provide up to 6,000 beds
and 2,500 staff over the next year.
This new action also forms part of a wider
strategy to tackle all forms of homelessness. The Government is
already investing £1.2 billon to tackle homelessness, and
introduced ambitious new legislation, the Homelessness Reduction
Act to ensure people at risk of becoming homeless get help more
quickly, with councils receiving funding to support them in these
duties
This comes ahead of the publication of the
annual rough sleeping statistics this morning – showing how many
people were counted or estimated to be sleeping rough on a single
night.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon MP said:
“I’m determined that we end rough sleeping
in this Parliament, meeting our moral obligation to support the
most vulnerable in society.
“We will be bringing together housing,
addiction, mental health and the criminal justice system as never
before to tackle this social ill from every angle. The
coordinated effort that we will now pursue, beginning with this
review, builds on the progress we have made in recent years,
reducing the number of people sleeping on the
streets.”
Dame Louise
Casey said:
“I am pleased to accept this commission
from the Prime Minister and the Housing Secretary. Homelessness
and within that rough sleeping, is something that’s causes misery
so I hope that I will be able to help the Government and the
country expedite action on this issue.”
