Ministers have also launched an £11m fund to help councils across England get people off the streets and into secure accommodation.
The government’s Rough Sleeping Delivery Plan, published today, outlines how the government plans to end rough sleeping by 2027 – one of it’s manifesto commitments.
The plan means councils will have to publish “detailed rough sleeping and homeless strategies” by next winter, which will set out how they plan to provide specialist support and accommodation for vulnerable people on the street.
Additionally, the plan commits to placing new work coaches for every single Job Centre Plus by summer 2019, to help homeless people access the support available to them.
A study into the links between homelessness and the LGBT community will also be published in summer 2019 as part of the Rough Sleeping Delivery Plan.
Communities secretary James Brokenshire said: “No-one is predestined to spend their lives sleeping on the streets. Yet, despite this, too many people still sleep rough on any given night.
“That is why we are taking action to provide support to help get people off the street this winter and set the foundations to put an end to rough sleeping altogether by 2027. This new action plan sets out the next steps to making this goal a reality.
“And while we are already seeing progress, I am clear we must go further than ever to achieve our ambition of a country in which no-one needs to sleep rough”.
Earlier this year, the government handed councils new duties to tackle homelessness under the Homelessness Reduction Act.
Martin Tett, Local Government Association housing spokesman, responding to the report, said: “Proper resourcing of local government funding is essential if we are going to end rising homelessness.
“Councils also need to keep 100% of the receipts of any homes they sell to replace them and reinvest in building more of the genuine affordable home they desperately need and the ability to adapt welfare reforms to prevent people from losing their home where possible.”
Homelessness services face a funding gap of more than £100m in 2019-20, he added.
