Extract from HCLG topical questions - June 14
Tuesday, 15 June 2021 07:39
Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con):...I welcome
the incredible work that this Government have done throughout the
pandemic to support more rough sleepers, with a staggering £700
million in extra funding for local authorities. I pay tribute to
the local authorities and charities involved in helping rough
sleepers off the streets, day in, day out. Now we must learn from
the Government’s brilliant Everyone In strategy, which saw an
incredible 90% of rough sleepers taken off...Request free trial
(Cities of London and Westminster) (Con):...I
welcome the incredible work that this Government have done
throughout the pandemic to support more rough sleepers, with a
staggering £700 million in extra funding for local authorities. I
pay tribute to the local authorities and charities involved in
helping rough sleepers off the streets, day in, day out. Now we
must learn from the Government’s brilliant Everyone In strategy,
which saw an incredible 90% of rough sleepers taken off the streets
and offered accommodation. As my right hon. Friend knows, I am
campaigning to have the Vagrancy Act
1824 repealed. Does he agree that it is now
time to learn from what we did with the Everyone In strategy,
especially in terms of the reasons people find themselves on the
streets in the first place, which are particularly around mental
health and addiction issues? Does he agree that we need to learn
those lessons and replace the Vagrancy Act.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local
Government (): I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute
to councils and communities across the country, including her own
council in Westminster, led very ably by Rachael Robathan. Rachael
and I have walked the streets of the west end on many occasions
over the past year and seen a tremendous reduction in the number of
people sleeping rough. We must build on that and ensure that the
progress we have made in the past year is not allowed to slip
through our fingers. We will be working across Government to do
that because, as my hon. Friend says, homelessness is a housing
issue and a health issue. It is about mental health and it is about
drug and alcohol addiction, and we need a cross-Government approach
to the challenge.
|
