Government expanding support to beat homelessness
10 Jun 2014 11:02 AM
Government departments have united to expand support for
vulnerable people, Housing Minister Kris Hopkins and Communities Minister
Stephen Williams said today (10 June 2014).
Over £65 million of funding from across Whitehall
is being offered to councils and other organisations to tackle homelessness
around the country.
This government has increased spending on preventing
homelessness and as a result homeless acceptances are lower than in 27 of the
last 30 years.
Mr
Hopkins said simply providing accommodation is not enough to prevent
homelessness, and it is vital that vulnerable people can access a range of
support and lead independent lives.
The
funding will be invested across 5 programmes:
- an
£8 million Help for Single Homeless
Fund that will improve council services for single people facing the
prospect of homelessness
- the
£15 million Fair Chance Fund, an innovative “payments by results”
scheme, that will provide accommodation, education, training and employment
opportunities for around 2,000 of our most vulnerable young homeless
people
- a
total of £41.5 million will be shared between Homelessness Change and
Platform for Life
- Homelessness Change funding to provide tailored temporary
hostel accommodation for rough sleepers to get them off the streets and
transform their lives through health, training and education
facilities
- Platform for Life funding to provide shared
accommodation for young people at risk of homelessness so they have a stable
platform for work and study
- more than £580,000 to extend the Homelessness Gold
Standardscheme, which helps councils to improve frontline housing services
for homeless families and single people
This is in addition to the £470 million of funding
that the government has maintained since 2010 to tackle rough sleeping and
homelessness and theNo Second
Night Out scheme, which has helped thousands of people off the streets
since its launch in 2011 and aims to ensure no-one spends a second night
sleeping rough.
Housing Minister Kris Hopkins said:
People at risk of homelessness need more than just a
roof over their head. They also need help with their education, employment and
health so they have the right skills, confidence and opportunities to
succeed.
That’s why this government has increased spending
on preventing homelessness and why we’ve worked hard to ensure that
homelessness acceptances are now lower than in 27 of the last 30
years.
Additionally we are giving £65 million to help
councils and charities provide tailored support to homeless people, so they can
find stable accommodation and live independent and fulfilling
lives.
Communities Minister Stephen Williams:
This government is determined to protect the most
vulnerable people in our communities and give them the help they need to get
their lives back on track.
Whether through accommodation, education or employment,
this package of support will provide homeless people with a fair chance to make
a fresh start and succeed in life.
The
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said:
It
is imperative we continue to work collaboratively to help eradicate rough
sleeping and reach out to people who need our help. Alongside our existing
programmes, including my new No First Night Out scheme, City Hall will be
allocating the Homelessness Change and Platform for Life funding across London,
delivering the accommodation and support that’s critical to prevent and
tackle rough sleeping. The Mayor’s No First Night Out pilot will also
make additional funding available for London boroughs’ work to prevent
rough sleeping, complementing the government’s Help for Single Homeless
fund.
Further information
The
Fair Chance Fund
The
£15 million fund is jointly funded by the Department for Communities and
Local Government and Cabinet Office.
The
“payment by results” scheme will support vulnerable people between
the ages of 18 and 24 into housing, education and work and will attract social
investment into this area through Social Impact Bonds.
Specialist organisations, including those from the
voluntary sector, will run innovative projects to give these young people the
best possible opportunities for sustainable accommodation, employment,
education or training over 3 years.
The
support will help the group to turn their lives around and generate significant
savings for the taxpayer.
74
organisations that submitted successful expressions of interest will now be
able to submit a full bid for funding, by 1 September, using the prospectuspublished on 4 June 2014.
Help for Single Homeless Fund
The
£8 million fund will cover this and next year, and help groups of
councils improve services for single homeless people.
This could involve working with local partners including
health and probation services to prevent personal problems such as addiction,
debt or poor health from escalating into homelessness.
A prospectus published today (10 June 2014) will help councils,
in groups of 3 or more, prepare their bids for up to £250,000. Bids must
be submitted by 8 August 2014.
Homelessness Change funding and Platform for
Life
A
total of £40 million from the Department of Health and £1.5 million
from the Department for Communities and Local Government will be shared between
Homelessness Change funding and Platform for Life.
Homelessness Change funding will provide tailored hostel
accommodation to improve the physical and mental health outcomes for rough
sleepers and support them towards independent living. This extends the existing
programme but with an additional focus on refurbishing existing hostels to
support health improvement and reduce the demand on health
services.
Platform for Life is a brand new programme of shared
accommodation for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and
is linked to participation in work, education or training. The accommodation is
intended to provide a stable base for young people who are prevented from
holding down a job or a college place by their homelessness or insecure
accommodation. We want people to learn to live with others, budget, and
establish the habit of work or study to allow them to move on to full
independence and healthy life.
These programmes will be delivered by the Homes and
Communities Agency and the Greater London Authority. A bidding prospectus will
be published in summer 2014, and the fund will run from 2014 to
2016.
Homelessness Gold Standard
£582,128 will extend the Homelessness Gold
Standard scheme into 2014 to 2015. The council-led support scheme
helps councils improve their frontline housing services for families and single
homeless people. It is run by the National Practitioner Support Service, a team
of council staff seconded to Winchester Council. They provide training and
other support to councils - 97% of councils have already engaged with the
scheme.
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