New Legislation To Combat Homelessness Passes The First Stage

The Homelessness Reduction Bill has passed through the House of Commons last week. It will now move to the House of Lords for its first reading on the 24 February 2017.

As we reported last month, the new Bill places a duty on local authorities to help prevent the homelessness of all families and single people, regardless of priority need, who are eligible for assistance and threatened with homelessness.

A new duty is also placed on public services to notify a local authority if they come into contact with someone they think may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The legislation, originally a private members Bill tabled by Tory MP Bob Blackman, has been given wide cross-party support. Homeless charity Crisis thanked ministers and MPs who “came together from across the political spectrum” to move the legislation forward.

The Local Government Minister, Marcus Jones, announced that councils in England are to receive £61 million in funding to help them meet the costs of the legislation (rising from £48 million announced last week). The intention is that the distribution model for subsidy will reflect the differing need across various local authorities, and additional money may be made available for those in high-pressure areas to manage the transition as the new duties take effect.

He further announced that there would be a review of the implementation of the Bill, including the resourcing of it and how it is working in practice, after two years.

Despite amendments put to the Bill by both government and opposition members, the Bill safely travelled through both Report Stage and Third Reading. The Lords are set to have some issue with the commitment to funding after two years, but it is widely expected to pass through there too.