83 areas will share £30 million to boost the immediate support available to people living on the streets and help them into accommodation, including £271,094 for Worthing.
Councils across England with the highest numbers of rough sleepers will receive a share of this funding to significantly increase the support they are able to offer people now and also those at risk this coming winter.
Funding will be used to provide an additional 1,750 additional bed spaces for rough sleepers and an additional 531 dedicated homelessness workers. The funding will also help improve the co-ordination of services available to those in need and at risk.
Councils will be supported by the government’s new Rough Sleeping Initiative Team consisting of experts from the sector with a proven track record of successfully helping rough sleepers and preventing those at risk from becoming homeless.
This funding builds on significant government action already taken including the new Housing First Pilots announced last month to get people into stable and affordable accommodation. In April the Homelessness Reduction Act was introduced which will ensure more people are provided with the support they need sooner. In total the government is investing more than £1.2 billion to tackle all forms of homelessness.
Next month government will publish its long-term Rough Sleeping Strategy that has been developed in partnership with charities and local government. It will set out a comprehensive plan to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminate it entirely by 2027 by ensuring those sleeping rough have appropriate routes away from the streets – and prevent them from sleeping rough in the first place.
Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/james-brokenshire-announces-30-million-immediate-support-for-rough-sleepers
