Government launches £442m drive to get rough sleepers off streets before Christmas

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has launched a £442m drive to get rough sleepers off the streets before Christmas.

Learning from ‘innovative’ approaches put into place during the pandemic, the Government has announced that new accommodation will be rolled out across England this winter, as well as offering practical help with housing, health, and other needs to support people to build a more stable life for themselves in the future.

The new commitment to offer everyone a route off the streets this Christmas, along with boosted funding, reflect the Andy Burnham‘s national drive to make ‘real change’ and get everyone playing their part in ending rough sleeping.

Not only will these plans change the lives of rough sleepers, but it’s also said they will have huge benefits for the country as a whole.

Research from homelessness charity Crisis suggests that by preventing 40,000 people from becoming homeless for a year, taxpayers could save around £370 million. 

As well provisions to get people off the streets, and the intensive ‘wraparound’ support, the newly allocated funding will also help local areas deliver more than 1,000 ‘settled’ homes over the next three years, it has been confirmed.

Areas facing the greatest pressures will receive the largest share of support.

Working alongside councils, Mayors will play a leading role in driving local action to end rough sleeping, and will be tasked with making decisions that are right for their communities to deliver help where it’s needed most. 

The Prime Minister says he ‘won’t accept’ rough sleeping any longer. He commented: “No one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station, but we’ve seen it for so long that it feels like Westminster has started to accept it.

“That’s why my first instruction as Prime Minister was to end rough sleeping, and it’s why today we’re getting started with a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas. We did it in the pandemic, we can do it again. But it needs all of us.

Read more:

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• ‘Life-changing’ scheme helps house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people

“Government will put the money in, but I’m asking leaders in communities and sectors across society to play their part locally too.

“Let’s get people out the cold, and let’s bring back hope.”

Featured Image – Gary Knight (via Flickr)