At Autumn Statement 2015 the Government announced that the
Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP)Temporary Accommodation
Management Fee would be replaced by increased funding to local
authorities to give them more control and flexibility to tackle
homelessness.
I am pleased to inform you that we have today announced the
allocations for the Department for Communities and Local
Government’s new Flexible Homelessness Support Grant which will
replace the DWP fee from April this year. The total funding
over two years is £402 million. The details of allocations and
methodology are attached.
We have published the funding allocations for the grant over
two years so councils will know with more certainty how much
they will receive under the new system. We will announce
allocations for 2019/20 during 2017/18. The funding has been
allocated according to a formula which reflects relative
homeless pressures, while at the same time aiming to protect
local authorities which currently have high levels of Temporary
Accommodation.
No authority will receive an annual allocation less than we
estimate they would have received under the DWP fee (assuming
rising levels of demand).
The new grant gives councils more control and flexibility over
homelessness budgets. It forms part of the Government’s end to
end approach to tackling homelessness, helping both those at
risk of homelessness and those experiencing a crisis. It sits
alongside other funding for homelessness, including the £315
million Homelessness Prevention funding, our recently announced
£50 million homelessness prevention package and the £61million
new burdens funding for MP’s Homelessness Reduction
Bill, which will significantly reform England’s homelessness
legislation and ensure that more people get the help they need
to prevent them becoming homeless.
In order to manage the transition to a new funding regime
carefully, we are ring-fencing the grant for two years to
ensure it is spent on homelessness services.
In recognition of the particular challenges faced by London
boroughs, we have set aside £25 million of the funding over the
next two years. Before making final decisions on the allocation
of this funding we will work with the Greater London Authority
and London boroughs to consider ways of helping councils to
collaborate in the procurement of accommodation for homeless
households.
In designing the grant, we worked with local housing
authorities across the country, including all London boroughs.
