Emergency winter funding announced amid rise in rough sleeping

Rough sleepers in England are to be protected through an emergency £10 million winter fund announced as Angela Rayner prepared to chair the first cross-government group on tackling homelessness.

The Deputy Prime Minister described current levels of street homelessness as a “national disgrace” and insisted “we can’t keep sticking plasters on it”.

The deaths of 155 people sleeping rough in the UK were recorded for 2023 by The Museum of Homelessness.

The monitoring project said the deaths of people sleeping rough surged by 42% from 109 the previous year, while deaths among homeless people in the UK rose by 12% in a year to at least 1,474, up from 1,313 in 2022.

Meanwhile, the latest data for London showed an increase in the number of people sleeping rough in the capital of almost a fifth on the same period last year.

A total of 4,780 rough sleepers were seen on the capital’s streets between July and September, according to the latest statistics from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain), which said that was the highest quarterly figure since its records began in 2009.

The latest figure was an increase of 18% from 4,068 people in the same quarter last year and up 13% from 4,223 in the period between April and June this year.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the £10 million will go to councils “in the highest need” in England.

The funding is in addition to £233 million announced in last week’s Budget, which will be used to tackle all forms of homelessness.

We are approaching the harshest months of the year, which is why we are taking immediate action to reach anyone sleeping rough and help them off the streets this winter

Ms Rayner said: “Anyone forced to sleep rough on our streets represents a complete failure of the broken system we’ve inherited. It’s a national disgrace, and we can’t keep sticking plasters on it.

“We are approaching the harshest months of the year, which is why we are taking immediate action to reach anyone sleeping rough and help them off the streets this winter.

“Bringing together ministers across government is a crucial step to tackle this crisis at its root and ensure everyone has access to the basic right of safe and secure housing.”

MHCLG said the taskforce is one of the first steps in the Government’s plan for a long-term strategy to tackle all forms of homelessness, bringing together the healthcare, justice and education systems.