Steve Brine has welcomed news that Winchester will receive an additional £75,000 to tackle rough sleeping this year to support some of the most vulnerable people in our local community.
Councils will receive a share of an additional £112 million through the Rough Sleeping Initiative to help get people off the streets and in to safe and secure accommodation.
An additional £236 million will also fund ‘move on’ accommodation for up to 6,000 rough sleepers, ensuring no one has to sleep on the streets at night. The latest figures show that rough sleeping across England fell by 9 per cent last year – the second annual fall in a row, and by 12 per cent in local authority areas where the Rough Sleeping Initiative is active. The scheme is a central pillar of the Government’s strategy to end rough sleeping completely by 2024.
Commenting, Steve said: “I am delighted that funding to tackle rough sleeping in Winchester will increase to £75,000 this year.
“This government has shown it is absolutely determined to end rough sleeping, and I was especially pleased to see us bring forward its target of achieving this to 2024 at the recent election. There is still a lot more we can do, and I’ll be working with the council and local organisations to ensure the additional funds are spent locally in the most effective way, so that no one in our area has to sleep out in the cold this winter.”
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick added; “I’m determined that we end rough sleeping in this Parliament, meeting our moral obligation to support the most vulnerable in society.
“We will be bringing together housing, addiction, mental health and the criminal justice system as never before to tackle this social ill from every angle. The coordinated effort that we will now pursue, beginning with this review, builds on the progress we have made in recent years, reducing the number of people sleeping on the streets.”
Pictured: Steve celebrating 30 years of Winchester Churches Nightshelter
