An extra 14,000 emergency beds for rough sleepers and 3,000 support staff roles will be created this year as part of a three-year, £500m plan, according to the Department for Upgrading, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). A further 2,400 long-term supported homes for those with the most complex needs, including young people, will also be delivered by March 2025 through a £200 million accommodation programme. The plans will be paid for with £2bn of funding over the next three years, which was first announced in the spring spending review. Of this amount, £764m has been allocated to councils and government partners. Boris Johnson’s 2019 election victory manifesto included a pledge to end the “scourge of rough sleeping by the end of the next parliament”. He said this would be achieved by expanding the Rough Sleeping Initiative launched in 2018, Housing First, and using local services to meet the health and housing needs of people living on the streets. Politics Live: Boris Johnson pledges £700m as time in power draws to a close The government says the funding will “exhaust all options” to ensure no one leaves a public institution – such as hospitals, prisons, care or asylum systems or the armed forces – for the street. Another 20 areas to get drug and alcohol treatment services through investment of up to £186.5m Pilots in the West Midlands, Manchester and Liverpool will be extended. Leveling Up Secretary Greg Clark said: “Ending rough sleeping in this parliament is an important manifesto commitment. “We have made great strides towards this goal in recent years and today’s strategy backed by £2bn of support will give some of the most vulnerable people in our society housing and targeted support so they can rebuild their lives. “The full weight of government is behind this much-needed pledge and this landmark strategy will give us the right tools to identify people at risk of sleeping rough earlier and provide the help they need.” Rough Sleeping Minister Eddie Hughes added that the Government “will pull every lever at our disposal so that councils, working hand in hand with the voluntary, faith and community sectors, can intervene quickly when someone is sleeping rough ». Homeless Link, the national membership charity for frontline homelessness organizations in England, said the strategy was a “step in the right direction”. But Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, branded the plan a “missed opportunity”, adding: “It’s good that this strategy recognizes that, fundamentally, not being able to afford anywhere to live is the main driver of homelessness . “It’s disappointing that it does almost nothing to address it. In the face of a major crisis – with people already struggling to keep the lights on and pay their rent – this plan is completely inadequate.”
