MP, Labour's Shadow Housing
Secretary, commenting on the Government
encouraging councils to house rough sleepers, said:
"It is the right move to get people rapidly off the
streets, but councils need support to do this.
"The Government has pledged just £3.2 million for this work
which is simply not enough when local homelessness services have
been cut by £1 billion a year and lost 9,000 beds since
2010."
Ends
Notes to Editors
· The
Government's homelessness czar, Dame Louise Casey has written to
councils asking them "to do what we possibly can at this stage to
ensure that everybody is inside and safe by this weekend".
· However,
Ministers have so far only pledged £3.2 million to support this
effort: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/3-2-million-emergency-support-for-rough-sleepers-during-coronavirus-outbreak. This
amount to only around £10,000 additional funding per council area
in England.
· Local
homelessness services have been cut by £1 billion a year
according to research published by charities St Mungo's and
Homeless Link: https://www.mungos.org/publication/local-authority-spending-on-homelessness-2020-update/.
· In
Wales, the Welsh Assembly has promised £10 million, in a country
with less than a tenth of the population of England: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/coronavirus-covid19-homeless-hotel-rooms-17955561.
