Thank you for contacting me about homelessness.
I have always taken a close personal interest (and active interest at that) in helping homeless people. It is right that Government does the same and takes a pro active stance to prevent homelessness and support those who find themselves in that position.
Since 2010, over £500 million has been made available to give councils and the voluntary sector the tools needed to prevent homelessness. This has prevented nearly 1 million people from becoming homeless, but I know that more can be done.
I am glad that the Government is maintaining homelessness prevention funding for local authorities and increasing central government funding for homelessness programmes to £139 million. £40 million is also being provided to refurbish hostels and to provide low cost shared accommodation for young people at risk of homelessness. I welcome the £5 million fund which has been announced for the 25 local authorities facing the greatest pressures in moving people out of temporary accommodation and into a home.
At the Budget, the Government announced that it would invest £100 million to deliver low-cost 'second stage' accommodation for rough sleepers leaving hostel accommodation and domestic abuse victims and their families moving on from refuges. Funding for the Rough Sleeping Social Impact Bond is being doubled to £10 million to find ways to tackle entrenched rough sleeping. A further £10 million will also support innovative ways to prevent and reduce rough sleeping over two years, particularly in London, building on the success of the No Second Night Out initiative.
Thank you again for contacting me.
