Andy Burnham Announces £10m For Liverpool City Region To End Rough Sleeping By Christmas
The Prime Minister said he wants everyone who needs a bed to get somewhere to sleep by Christmas, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The Liverpool City Region will receive almost £10m as part of Andy Burnham’s drive to end rough sleeping. The Prime Minister confirmed on Tuesday he would seek to get everyone who needs a bed somewhere to sleep by Christmas. The £442m plan is being rolled out over three years to provide new accommodation and support this winter. Alongside emergency accommodation to end the need for rough sleeping, the programme will offer practical help with housing, health and other needs.
Mr Burnham said he won’t accept people having to “bed down in a doorway or outside a station.” As well as off the street provision, the funding will help local areas deliver more than 1,000 settled homes over the next three years, alongside intensive wraparound support to help people rebuild their lives. The Prime Minister has announced he will host a first of its kind national summit in the autumn to bring together leaders from across society – from business, finance, charities, health, faith communities and more – to ask what role each of them can play in ending rough sleeping.
Mr Burnham said: “No-one should have to bed down in a doorway or outside a station. 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.”
The government is also confirming project allocations for this programme, which includes the investment into long-term accommodation announced in July. 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. Working alongside councils, Mayors will play a leading role in driving local action to end rough sleeping and making the decisions that are right for their communities to deliver help where it is needed most. As part of this, almost £10m has been allocated to the Liverpool City Region.
Angela Rayner, housing secretary, added: “When the Prime Minister pledged to end rough sleeping, we said we’d move urgently from words to action. Today we’re delivering on that promise. This funding will help thousands of people leave the streets behind, move into secure homes and get the support they need to rebuild their lives. Working alongside councils, mayors and charities, we’re backing local areas to tackle rough sleeping at its roots, giving people the security, dignity and opportunity they deserve, and restoring hope to those who have been let down for far too long.”
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.
Cllr Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool Council and chair of the Local Government Association’s inclusive growth committee, said: “Additional funding to tackle rough sleeping, as well as a summit to focus minds on how to address the issue is positive. It is right that local areas, who know their communities best, will determine how to use this additional funding. Councils are integral to the efforts to prevent homelessness in the first place, but need sustainable resourcing and empowerment to ensure any progress is lasting.
He added: “Councils’ net spend on homelessness services has risen by £950 million – 125% – in real terms from 2019/20 to 2024/25, and there has been an increase of 51.9% of people requiring temporary accommodation in the same period. Given the scale of this challenge, we need ambition and resources to make the progress we need in the long term, and most importantly, to address the root causes of homelessness in this country.”
