Burnham will double funding for rough sleeping campaign to £874m
Andy Burnham has doubled his funding to tackle rough sleeping having failed to solve the problem in Manchester as mayor. John Healey will pledge £432m of taxpayer money for rough sleepers in his maiden Budget on Wednesday, adding to the £442m promised in August, and taking the issue’s total investment to £874m by the end of this parliament. In response to the funding announcement on Sunday, the Prime Minister said: “Rough sleeping isn’t a fact of life. “It’s a thing governments either choose to accept or don’t. Well I don’t accept it. “That’s why we’re doubling funding so that people aren’t just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this parliament too.” In his first speech as Prime Minister , Mr Burnham pledged “to end rough sleeping in our country”, insisting the Government could fix the problem. However, as mayor of Greater Manchester, he failed to meet his pledge to end rough sleeping by 2020. Although the policy seemed successful at first – with the number of those on the streets falling from 268 in 2017 to 90 in 2021 – the figures began to rise during the pandemic and cost of living crisis. Sir James Cleverly, the former shadow housing secretary, previously claimed that Mr Burnham had “failed” to meet his 2020 pledge as mayor “because he didn’t do the hard work”. In his pledge setting a Christmas deadline to tackle the problem, Mr Burnham took inspiration from a Covid-era scheme that provided 37,000 people with emergency accommodation. However, he did not specify how long local authorities would be expected to house people, and not every rough sleeper is expected to take up the offer. The Prime Minister has also invited businesses, charities and housing providers to the first “rough sleeping summit” at No 10 on Monday. Matt Downie, chief executive of the homeless charity Crisis, who will be attending the summit, said it was essential that the new funding “goes beyond Christmas”. He added: “Ensuring that everyone has a route off the streets, with the support they need to rebuild their lives in the years to come, will therefore save lives.” Chronic housing shortages Andy Preston, the chief executive of Sleepout, a homelessness charity, warned in August that Mr Burnham’s rough sleeping pledge would never work because of chronic housing shortages. The Prime Minister has committed to building 70,000 social and affordable homes in England over the next 10 years. However, Mr Preston called the target “disappointing” – pointing out that it amounted to just 7,000 homes a year – and urged the Prime Minister to go further. Angela Rayner, the Housing Secretary, admitted that the plan to end rough sleeping by Christmas was “a big ambition”. She said: “The first step is giving people a roof over their head and freedom from the nightly struggle to find somewhere safe to sleep. “But Christmas is only the beginning and that’s why we will keep working together to tackle the root causes of homelessness and end rough sleeping for good.” No 10 has said “urgent” action was under way, with specialist outreach teams and bed spaces operating in Coventry and further provision being rolled out in Plymouth and Camden.
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