- East Staffordshire Borough Council will receive £171,250 to help tackle rough sleeping, as part of £200 million across England to get people off the streets.
- Additional funding will cover over 14,000 bed spaces and 2,700 support staff.
- The Conservative Government’s successful rough sleeping programme has already reduced rough sleeping by 32 per cent.
Kate Griffiths MP has welcomed the announcement that more rough sleepers in East Staffordshire are to be helped off the streets and into safe accommodation thanks to a £171,250 funding boost.
The funding will be allocated to East Staffordshire Borough Council (ESBC), and will support vital projects such as night shelters, specialist mental health or addiction services, and targeted support to help rough sleepers off the streets for good.
It will fund up to 14,000 bed spaces and 2,700 support staff across England.
This funding is one part of an unprecedented £750 million investment this year to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping—part of the Conservative Government’s drive to end rough sleeping by 2024.
Analysis of the Rough Sleeping Initiative—now in its fourth year—shows that the programme has reduced rough sleeping by almost a third compared to areas which have not taken part in the programme.
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 Rough Sleeping Initiative was launched in 2018 to help local areas provide tailored services to those living on the streets.
With this investment, the Conservative 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.
Funding from previous years of the programme is already having a transformational effect at a local level, with local authorities reporting significant falls in the number of rough sleepers.
Commenting, Kate Griffiths MP said:
“I am delighted that East Staffordshire Borough Council will receive a further £171,250 to tackle rough sleeping in Burton and Uttoxeter, as part of the next stage of the Rough Sleeping Initiative.
“The Government is determined to end rough sleeping, and this funding will do this by providing additional bed spaces and vital services, such as night shelters and addiction support in Burton and Uttoxeter.
“There is still more to do, and I’ll be working with the Council and local organisations to ensure the additional funds are spent locally in the most effective way, to cut rough sleeping as we build back better from the pandemic.”
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP added:
“No-one should have to sleep rough. and we have a duty to support the most vulnerable in our society.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we have made it a priority to protect rough sleepers through our ongoing Everyone In campaign, which has supported more than 26,000 people into long term accommodation so far.
“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.”
