WIREDGOV

Homeless Link has co-written and signed a joint letter to the Homelessness Minister Felicity Buchan expressing concern at the number of county councils currently proposing to decommission non-statutory homelessness funding.

The letter, which was also signed by the National Housing Federation, the Local Government Association, the Chartered Institute of Housing, Centrepoint, Rethink Mental Illness, Crisis, Shelter, the National Care Forum, and the Rural Homelessness Counts Coalition, made clear the potentially devastating impact of decommissioning vital homelessness services at a time when homelessness and rough sleeping are rising. 

It warned that, not only will the proposals from county councils increase homelessness, "this loss of capacity will have a larger cumulative impact on people and services with implications for the public purse." 

It ended with a request to Minister Buchan for an "urgent meeting with you to discuss this issue and solutions to maintain the capacity of the homelessness and supported housing sector at a time when it is needed more than ever."