The Labour Government has today announced a huge raft of support for thousands of people facing homelessness thanks to an urgent £84 million cash injection to councils up and down the country ahead of winter hitting – including £645,881 here in Newcastle.
Immediate help for children and families in temporary accommodation – including money to pay for food, school travel and laundry – is at the centre of the new funding, which lands on World Homeless Day (10 October).
Welcoming the funding boost, Labour’s cabinet member for housing, Cllr Paula Maines said:
“Labour promised change for places like Newcastle – and that’s what we are going to deliver. The rise in homelessness under the Conservatives was a national disgrace, and Labour is absolutely right to take on the moral mission of getting families into the decent homes we all deserve.
“This new funding will help children into safe and secure places to live – that’s the difference a Labour government makes. Change has begun.”
Housing Secretary, Steve Reed said:
“Homelessness is a national emergency, and we must confront it with urgency and compassion. Too many people are being failed time and time again by a broken system and that has to change.
“We need to get back on track to end homelessness for good – which is why we are providing historic levels of funding to turn the tide through prevention and provide people with the safe, secure home that everyone deserves.”
The additional funding comes on top of the government’s £1 billion investment to tackle homelessness this year. This includes the largest ever investment in prevention services, helping councils to prevent homelessness before it happens – record support which is now secured for future years.
The additional money comes as record levels of households are in temporary accommodation or rough sleeping – two and a half times higher than in 2010. This includes almost 170,000 children in temporary accommodation – which can have a devastating impact on their development and education as well as access to amenities such as laundry, wifi and travel to school.
The money – which will go direct to councils and mayoral authorities will allow them to act fast to provide the right support for people in their area, helping to prevent people from falling back into homelessness for good.
In addition to support for families, the funding – an 8% increase this year alone – will also help councils provide tailored support, including mental and physical health services or drug and alcohol rehabilitation, for those experiencing long-term rough sleeping. It follows wider government support to tackle all forms of homelessness and build the 1.5 million homes this country needs – including £950 million to increase the supply of good temporary accommodation, abolishing ‘no fault’ evictions through the Renters’ Rights Bill and a £39 billion investment to provide the biggest increased in social and affordable homes in a generation.
The £84m cash injection includes:
- Nearly £70 million for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant. This is flexible funding for local authorities to prevent people sleeping rough and help them stay off the streets. This could mean strengthening local services on offer, partnering with charities and community organisations, providing sustainable accommodation to help people sleeping rough and specialist physical and mental health support workers and treatment.
- Nearly £11 million to help families with children living in temporary accommodation access basic facilities like Wi-Fi, laundry, travel passes for school and uniform, and help pay for food and leisure activities. While the number of children and families living in B&Bs continues to fall under this government, more must be done to get those that need it into safe, secure homes. This funding will be directed to 61 areas with the highest numbers of children in temporary accommodation to make sure that they can have access to facilities they need and support with costs while they are there.
- £3 million increase for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment element of the wider Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Recovery and Improvement Grant. This funding will be directed to 83 local authorities and a pan-London project, targeted at lifesaving support to people with drug or alcohol related issues who are sleeping rough and at risk of homelessness, including those with co-occurring mental health needs.
- An uplift of £200,000 for the Voluntary, Community and Frontline Sector Grant which supports innovative faith and community-led initiatives such as night shelters to reduce the number of people experiencing repeat homelessness.