(Communities
Minister): I am today updating the House on a commitment
I made during the passage of the Homelessness Reduction Act – the
Member for Harrow East’s Private Members’ Bill – to fund the
additional duties contained within the Act in line with the new
burdens doctrine.Following further discussions with
local authorities on the new duties, the Government is providing
an additional £11.7 million in new burdens funding taking the
total amount of new burdens funding from £61 million to £72.7
million.
The Government will provide £72.7 million to local
authorities to meet the new burdens costs associated with the new
duties contained within the Act over the course of the Spending
Review. It is anticipated that the additional duties to prevent
homelessness will lead to savings for local authorities
thereafter.
The Government has worked with local authorities and the
Local Government Association to test the methodology behind the
distribution, as well as the core assumptions of the costs of
administering the new duties. The distribution reflects the
differing need in different authorities. The funding has been
allocated according to a formula which reflects where resource
pressures are likely to increase as a result of administering the
new duties contained in the Act.
I am also pleased to inform you that we
have today announced the local authority allocations of the new
burdens funding and launched a consultation on the Homelessness
Code of Guidance which will support local authorities’ work to
prepare for the implementation of the Act. The details of
allocations and new burdens assessment are attached.
Additionally, Government will also be providing local
authorities with an equally distributed share of £3 million to
support them in upgrading their data systems to monitor the
impact of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
The Homelessness Reduction Act will significantly reform
England’s homelessness legislation and ensure that more people
get the help they need to prevent and relieve homeless. 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. The new burdens funding for the Act
sits alongside other funding for homelessness, including the £315
million Homelessness Prevention funding, our £50 million
homelessness prevention package and the £402
million Flexible Homelessness Support Grant.
