Funding Boost For Liverpool Homelessness Services

Liverpool Council is to spend millions of pounds on bolstering its homelessness support options for the next five years, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Subject to cabinet approval, the city council is to issue contracts worth almost £30m to offer vital support services to single people facing a housing crisis up until 2029. Ahead of a new housing strategy and homelessness approach, which is expected to be published this summer, the local authority is seeking to renew terms to address elements of the city’s homelessness crisis.

A series of six new contracts are expected to be awarded in a bid to provide housing options for those with complex needs, offending backgrounds and individuals living alone. Liverpool Council is to spend millions of pounds on bolstering its homelessness support options for the next five years. The current spend on temporary housing in Liverpool is equivalent to the council’s entire budget for culture, tourism, parks and youth services.

The new terms would provide “high-quality 24-hour services and dispersed accommodation solutions for single people to promote independence, including specific buildings and support for young people and those with a history of offending.” Additionally community-based floating support offering homeless prevention interventions with a focus on supporting households to maintain tenancies, reduce debt and promote independence, therefore reducing the reliance on services in the future.

The report said failure to award the contracts would result in the existing contracts ending in May 2024, which would mean the council is either operating out of standing orders, or that the services would cease. It added: “Therefore, if the accommodation services ceased this could leave single homeless people roofless and at need of immediate support to prevent risk of rough sleeping. This would require service users to be placed in Bed and Breakfast accommodation at significantly greater cost; as well as placing the local authority at risk of not fulfilling its statutory duties under the Homeless Reduction Act.”

The scheme will be debated at Liverpool Town Hall on Tuesday March 19.