This Christmas the increase in homelessness is visible in almost every town and city - Healey

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, responding to the Public Accounts Committee’s report on homelessness, said:

“This damning cross-party report shows that the Conservatives have caused the crisis of rapidly rising homelessness but have no plan to fix it.

“This Christmas, the increase in homelessness is visible in almost every town and city in the country, but today’s report confirms Ministers lack both an understanding of the problem and any urgency in finding solutions.

“After an unprecedented decline in homelessness under Labour, Conservative policy decisions are directly responsible for rising homelessness. You can’t help the homeless without the homes, and Ministers have driven new social rented homes to the lowest level on record.

“Labour will end rough sleeping within a Parliament, and tackle the root causes of rising homelessness with thousands more genuinely affordable homes and new protections for private renters.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• ·         This report from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee follows a highlight critical report from the National Audit Office, published in September and available here: https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Homelessness.pdf
• ·         Labour’s plan for tackling homelessness is available on pages 16-17 of our housing manifesto: https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Housing-Mini-Manifesto.pdf