By Richard Johnstone | 3 September 2012
English local authorities will continue to receive extra government funding to tackle homelessness in their area until 2015, housing minister Grant Shapps has revealed.
Shapps said yesterday that authorities will be given around £160m in Homelessness Prevention Grants over the next two years, allowing them to ‘continue their strong work’.
This is in addition to the £160m that has been allocated to councils in this and the previous financial years.
Shapps said the funding was for services that help people who are homeless or in danger of losing their home. They include outreach services to help get rough sleepers off the streets and into accommodation, and rent deposit schemes helping homeless people get accommodation in the private rented sector.
Latest figures show that councils helped 199,000 households to stay in their homes or find new places to live last year.
Among the provisional allocations of funding for 2013/14 and 2014/15, the largest is more than £8.1m earmarked for Westminster City Council. More than £2m is being awarded to the London boroughs of Camden, Lambeth and Kensington & Chelsea, and no authority in England will receive less than £50,000.
Shapps also confirmed that a website and telephone service available by Christmas would allow members of the public to help rough sleepers. The StreetLink support service, to be run by charities Homeless Link and Broadway, will connect people sleeping rough to local services.
Shapps urged residents, charities and councils to work together to ensure as few people as possible spent this Christmas on the streets.
‘All too often, we see people sleeping rough on our streets and don't know what to do for the best, where to turn to get them help and whether offering a handout really does offer them help out of homelessness,’ he said.
‘That's why I'm delighted that this December, StreetLink will offer a solution, with members of the public able to ring a national helpline or use a website accessible by smart phone to help ensure someone sleeping rough can be found and connected to local services.’
