Homelessness - Parliamentary Written Answer

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the findings of the recent research by Crisis into the treatment of single homeless people by local authorities in England.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are helping single homeless people find and sustain accommodation in the private rented sector through our £13 million funding to Crisis. By 2016 we expect the Crisis scheme to have helped 10,000 single homeless people since it started in 2010. We are continuing to tackle and prevent rough sleeping. Thousands of vulnerable people have been helped off the streets through the No Second Night Out and Streetlink initiatives. £20 million funding has been made available to the voluntary sector through the Homelessness Transition Fund which has helped No Second Night Out schemes across the country. There have been 18,000 Streetlink referrals since December 2012.

Seven In 10 Homeless off Streets After No Second Night Out Expansion

Nearly seven in 10 rough sleepers in England were helped off the streets on the day they were found following the expansion of the No Second Night Out scheme, a study has claimed. A report charting the progress of the initiative following its roll-out across England also shows nearly 8 in 10 (78 per cent) did not return to the streets after being helped by homelessness services. Sixty-seven per cent of rough sleepers across England are now helped off the streets the day they are found, the report said. There is no comparable data for previous years. Download a copy of the report from the Homeless Link website.

Gold Standard Sets New Homelessness Benchmark

The government has pledged £1.7 million to its ‘gold standard’ initiative to improve homelessness services in England.  Councils must reach a set of key achievements to attain ‘gold standard status’ and the first 10 to do so will offer advice to other local authorities looking to reach it. These achievements include offering a comprehensive prevention service, helping householders faced with repossession and adopting the no second night out scheme, which aims to prevent a person spending a second night sleeping rough. Read more on the Gov UK website.

£20 Million Fund for No Second Night out for Rough Sleepers

As temperatures drop across the country, the Government has handed a lifeline to thousands of homeless people with the latest round of funding in support of its 'No Second Night Out' campaign.  More than 2,000 people are estimated to be sleeping rough on any one night in England with many facing freezing conditions over the coming days.  The £3.6 million funding, allocated across 22 communities, follows the launch of StreetLink, a new England-wide hotline and website which enables concerned members of the public to help connect a rough sleeper with local advice and services.  Read more on the CLG website.

£3m to Help Tackle Rising Rough Sleeping

Homeless charities across England can now apply for grants of up £200k to invest in new ways of preventing and tackling rough sleeping.  With the number of people sleeping out on any one night estimated to have increased by 23% last year, priority will be given to areas that are experiencing high levels of homelessness and want to adopt No Second Night Out.  No Second Night Out is an initiative that involves putting the services in place to ensure that new rough sleepers get rapid help so they don’t spend a second night out. The idea, pioneered in London, has already spread to 30 areas thanks to funding from the £20m Homelessness Transition Fund.  The Fund has also announced that in September it will launch the ‘Future Ready’ fund. Under the scheme, homelessness services that are at risk of closure will be able to apply for grants of between £5k - £25k to help them find ways of securing their futures.  Read more on the Homeless Link website.

Making Every Contact Count: A Joint Approach to Preventing Homelessness

Through the Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness, the Government promised to bring departments together to ensure that all of Whitehall was playing its part in tackling homelessness. The first report focused on the most visible end of homelessness - those coming onto the streets, often facing advanced and overlapping problems such as offending, drug and alcohol addiction or mental health problems. Progress has been made since then - driving forward the national roll out of No Second Night Out and investing an extra £70 million through the sector to help tackle homelessness.  In this report considers how services can be managed in a way that prevents all households, regardless of whether they are families, couples, or single people, from reaching a crisis point where they are faced with homelessness.  Round Two of the Homelessness Transition Fund was announced by the charity Homeless Link on 16 August 2012.  Download a copy of the report from the CLG website.

Homelessness Transition Fund Round 2 Launched

The second round of a fund to help homelessness projects has opened for bidding.  The £8 million homelessness transition fund offers grants to charities of up to £200,000 to invest in new ways of preventing and tackling rough sleeping.  The fund particularly encourages applications from areas which are experiencing high levels of homelessness and rough sleeping, and applications from areas that are keen to adopt No Second Night Out - an initiative to help new rough sleepers.  Key homelessness services which are at risk of closure will also be able to apply for grants of up to £25,000 to help them find ways of securing their futures.  Read more on the Homeless Link website.

No Second Night Out Goes Nationwide

Communities across England are set to receive thousands of pounds to ensure nobody is forced to sleep on the streets for more than one night. Nineteen communities are being awarded up to £250,000 each to tackle homelessness. Administered by umbrella organisation Homeless Link, the Fund received 193 applications from charities wanting to protect key homelessness services and adopt initiatives like No Second Night Out. Currently running as a pilot in London, No Second Night Out is a standard the Government would like to see adopted in every area. It involves having services in place so people sleeping rough are quickly identified with the help of the public and provided with accommodation and support. Read more on the Homeless Link website.