WARRINGTON Borough Council is working through the detail of Government funding to tackle homelessness.
The government has recently committed the largest-ever investment in homeless prevention services to prevent more people from becoming homeless and get the country back on track to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness and rough sleeping.
Earlier this montyh new reserach revealed the number of rough sleepers in Warrington were on the rise.
The Labour government is providing nearly £1 billion for councils to help break the cycle of spiralling homelessness. This includes over £92 million for councils in the North West – a £19.8million increase on last year’s funding allocation by the previous Conservative government.
This funding means more resources will be available for workers on the frontline who provide essential services to get rough sleepers off the street and into secure housing as well as seeing more homeless families out of temporary accommodation.
Thanks to the government’s funding commitment, councils will now be better equipped to step in early to stop households becoming homeless in the first place. This includes mediation with landlords or families to prevent evictions, help find new homes, and deposits to access private renting.
Local areas can also choose to channel resources into services including Housing First, which prioritises access to permanent social housing for people with histories of repeat homelessness and multiple disadvantage including drug and alcohol abuse. This will secure critical outreach staff to provide specialist services to help address substance abuse and provide life skills to widen employment opportunities.
This is alongside councils being able to continue funding that offers tailored support for prison leavers to access private rented homes and locally run programmes with new education and employment opportunities, as well as support groups to avoid them facing homelessness and readjust to life on the outside.
With the worst housing crisis in living memory, around 40% of homeless families are living in B&Bs or nightly-let accommodation, and the use of this emergency accommodation has doubled in three years. Many of these places lack basic facilities, leaving parents struggling to cook healthy meals for their children while councils bear the mounting financial strain.
Successive years of failure to invest in local preventative services has seen far too many homeless families forced into temporary accommodation for far too long, with a record number of 123,100 households including almost 160,000 children.
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner said: “Too many people have been failed by the system time and again.160,000 children face spending this Christmas without a stable place to call home. I am determined to break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good.
“This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness. It’s time to turn the tide.
“This historic funding comes alongside our work developing a cross-government strategy back on track to end homelessness, pulling every lever of the state, to ensure that we deliver not just sticking plasters but a long-term plan.
“Through our Plan for Change I am determined to tackle the housing crisis we inherited head on, building the homes we need, delivering the biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation and ending no fault evictions.
Minister for Homelessness, Rushanara Ali said: “We have inherited the worst housing crisis in living memory that has left far too many families trapped in temporary accommodation with no end in sight and soaring numbers of people sleeping rough on our streets.
“This is the dire legacy we have inherited as a government, and we are fully determined to take immediate action. Our funding will not only support councils delivering vital services that meet the needs of their communities but also pave the way for our long-term plan to get us back on track to end homelessness once and for all.”
A new dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, brings together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy working with mayors and councils across the country to get back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.
Next year’s funding will deliver three important steps in the government’s long-term plan to tackle homelessness:
• stopping households becoming homeless in the first place.
• addressing the growing use of B&Bs and nightly-let accommodation.
• streamlining funding structures to make it easier for councils to spend their cash.
This funding is just one element of the Labour government’s Plan for Change to fix the housing crisis, strengthen protections and rights for tenants, and deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, one of the leading causes of homelessness, will be abolished as part of Labour’s landmark Renters’ Rights Bill. This will give greater security to new and existing tenancies and empower tenants to rightly challenge poor conditions.
The Labour government recently published a new growth focused National Planning Policy Framework as part of the Plan for Change, giving councils greater powers to build more social homes alongside vital infrastructure such as GP surgeries, schools and shops.
This supports the ambition to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation, with an extra £500 million for the Affordable Homes Programme to build tens of thousands of affordable homes across the country.
The Labour government is also bringing forward overdue reforms to the Right to Buy scheme to reverse the decline in much needed council housing and better protect existing housing stock. Decisive action has already been taken to reduce maximum discounts and allow councils to retain all receipts from sales to scale up delivery to meet future housing need.
Councils already have greater flexibility to use Right to Buy receipts to build and buy more homes as well as an additional £450 million to secure and create homes for families at risk of homelessness.
This announcement comes as the government prepares to publish its provisional Local Government Financial Settlement before the end of the year.
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “We welcome the funding, however we are still working through the details of the full settlement and what this means for people in Warrington.”
