By Charlie Carmichael-
Rough sleepers in the Uk are to receive further support from the British government to fund 83 areas with the highest numbers of people at risk over the next 2 years.
The funding is a practical response to the launch of its Rough Sleeping Strategy last month. Provisional allocations of a £34 million fund to provide local support for those living on the streets was announced today in a positive step to address the problem of rough sleeping.Councils across England with the highest numbers of rough sleepers are to receive a share of the funding to back on-going initiatives in their area, like dedicated support teams and securing additional bed spaces. The funding will be allocated for council spending over the next 2 years. The government said it is an extension of the £30 million that we provided to councils in June through our Rough Sleeping Initiative Fund. The funding is to be spread across a number of County’s in Britain, but should be seen to actually address rough sleeping.
It is important the money is used efficiently for supplying beds and homes for rough sleepers, but the government has the added task of ensuring drug addicts with homes acting as impostas do not benefit disproportionately from the funding. Homelessness is the sore and shame of every Western country, but individuals who are voluntarily homeless should be identified.
Among the projects benefiting from the initial £30 million are:
Sheffield – allocated £363,000 to expand ‘housing led’ services and increased emergency accommodation provision. The fund also provided a specialist support worker to assist a 64-year-old with mobility and addiction problems from sleeping rough to settle into permanent accommodation.
Thanet – allocated £367,000 to fund a rough sleeping coordinator, mental health specialist outreach worker and substance misuse worker. The council now undertakes regular multi-agency case management meeting reviews of rough sleepers with complex needs and provides individual care plans.
Bournemouth – allocated £387,000 to employ a dedicated rough sleeping coordinator, 4 specialised outreach workers focused on engagement with those on the streets, specialised psychological support to enable work with those who have experienced complex trauma and an initiative to help increase access to private rented sector for those seeking accommodation.
Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:
Our Rough Sleeping Strategy set out the blueprint to end rough sleeping by 2027. Now, we are vigorously taking the steps to make that happen.
The funding through our Rough Sleeping Initiative is already making a real difference in helping support those off the streets into services and accommodation this year.
But there is still work to do and that’s why we are supporting these areas with further funding to ensure progress continues to be made and vulnerable people are supported into services and accommodation.
The government’s expert Rough Sleeping Initiative Team has closely monitored the progress of the schemes developed from the first £30 million.
Alongside the £34 million allocated today, the government has set aside a further £11 million for spending on additional areas and projects to those supported by the Rough Sleeping Initiative and will announce further details in due course