Through a £442 million package, the North West is to receive £37m to curb rough sleeping to get people in for the winter
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority is to receive £16,955,174 over three years in an attempt to tackle rough sleeping in the area as part of Prime Minister Andy Burnham's national drive to end rough sleeping that totals £442 million across the country over three years, and £37 million in the North West.
The money is to create new accommodation and support that is to be rolled out across England this winter.
Alongside emergency accommodation for those who are rough sleepers, the programme will offer help with housing, health, and other needs, in an attempt to help people build a more stable future, rather than just giving people a temporary place to stay.
Accompanying this initiative, Burnham has announced that he will host a national summit in the Autumn to bring together leaders from business, finance, charities, health, faith communities, and more to ask what role each of them could play in ending rough sleeping.
Crisis, a charity for people who are homeless, suggest that preventing 40,000 people from becoming homeless could save the taxpayer close to £370 million.
PM Andy Burnham has said: “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.
"I won’t 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. 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."
Of the money in the initiative, £8.4 million of the new funding is going specifically to the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund. This takes total funding allocations announced for 100 different projects to £47 million over three years.
As well as off the street provision, the funding will help local areas deliver more than 1000 settled homes over the next three years, alongside further wraparound support to help people rebuild their lives. Labour say that areas facing the greatest pressures will receive the largest share of support, with communities all across England getting support to address rough sleeping in their area.
Alongside funding allocations, the Government is publishing guidance to help local areas mobilise quickly and deliver a consistent route off the street offer this winter. The guidance will make clear the need to ensure adequate and accessible provision for women experiencing rough sleeping, recognising that women are often underrepresented in official statistics and may be at greater risk of violence, abuse, and exploitation. Guidance encourages local areas to consider single sex accommodation with specialist, intensive and trauma informed support, for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. This will support the government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls in the next ten years.
This funding comes after Andy Burnham gave his first instruction to end rough sleeping across the country.
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