The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP, has announced that Councils across England will receive an additional £203 million to tackle rough sleeping. This allocation is an 81% increase from the £112 million provided last year. Of this total funding, Telford and Wrekin will receive £508,929.
This funding is one part of an unprecedented £750 million investment this year to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping – part of the government’s drive to end rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament. Funding will provide 14,500 bed spaces and 2,700 support staff across England.
Building on the past success of the programme, funding has almost doubled this year and will provide additional support to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of people sleeping rough across England has fallen for the third year in a row, and by 37% in the last year alone.
The Rough Sleeping Initiative was launched in 2018 to help local areas provide tailored services to those living on the streets. With today’s investment, the government has now allocated almost £400 million to 281 councils through the programme – which supports coordinated projects across areas including housing, mental health, addiction support and domestic abuse.
Ending rough sleeping is a personal mission for this Government – which has already made huge progress, with rough sleeping reduced by 43% since 2019.
Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP said:
"At the beginning of the pandemic we took swift and decisive action to bring rough sleepers in from the streets and settled them into longer-term accommodation in record numbers. That work continues, the results are clear and are a huge credit to all involved. To build on this progress, we are making the biggest ever investment under the Rough Sleeping Initiative to provide vital services to those who need it most, as part of our drive to end rough sleeping for good."
Photo above: Robert Jenrick MP
