City MPs welcome major Labour Government investment to tackle homelessness in Portsmouth
Portsmouth MPs Amanda Martin and Stephen Morgan have welcomed £5.7 million of additional funding by the Labour government to tackle homelessness in the city.
Councils across England will receive almost £1 billion of new funding next year to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness.
Following a campaign by the Portsmouth MPs, the Labour Government announced today it will provide £5.7m to Portsmouth City Council across Homelessness and Rough Sleeping grant funding programmes.Under the Conservative government, total homelessness reached record levels, with 117,450 households (including a record 151,630 children) in Temporary Accommodation as of March 2024.
In Portsmouth, the council has consistently failed to hit its housing targets, causing many in the city to live in insecure and unstable homes.
To address the housing crisis, historic levels of housebuilding are needed which is why the Labour Government has committed to building 1.5 million quality homes over this Parliament.
At the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves also announced a cross-government taskforce to address homelessness and rough sleeping in the long-term ahead of the spring Spending Review.
This follows up on the commitment in the Labour manifesto to develop a new cross-government strategy, working with Mayors and Councils across the country, to put Britain back on track to ending homelessness.
Commenting, Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin said:
“Today’s news is welcome, but it’s yet another example of where this government is having to pick up the mess left by the last.
“I’m pleased our lobbying of ministers for extra funding to support those in temporary accommodation in our city has been successful.
“The council must now urgently get a grip of the housing crisis in Portsmouth, from those in temporary accommodation to building genuinely affordable and council homes for local people. The council needs to step up and get building. People in Portsmouth voted for change, we are determined to deliver it.”
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:“After years of failure at local and national level to build the homes that we need, Portsmouth is experiencing a housing crisis with more and more families placed in temporary accommodation.
“Today’s intervention by the Labour government will have an enormous impact in supporting Portsmouth families in need.
“Amanda and I have been working with government to bring this huge investment to Portsmouth. We will continue to do everything in our power to tackle homelessness in our city and provide the homes people in our city deserve.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner said:“Too many people have been failed by the system time and again.160,000 children face spending this Christmas without a stable place to call home. I am determined to break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good.
“This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness. It’s time to turn the tide.
“This historic funding comes alongside our work developing a cross-government strategy back on track to end homelessness, pulling every lever of the state, to ensure that we deliver not just sticking plasters but a long-term plan.
“Through our Plan for Change I am determined to tackle the housing crisis we inherited head on, building the homes we need, delivering the biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation and ending no fault evictions.”
The full breakdown of new funding includes the following:
• Over £633 million for the Homelessness Prevention Grant, a £192 million increase from this year, supporting councils to prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation where required for families who recently became homeless, for example, through eviction or fleeing domestic violence. This is allocated based on local pressures.
• £185.6 million for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, consolidating the main rough sleeping and single homelessness focused grants into a single pot of money. This means councils can better prioritise when providing warm beds and shelter for people at risk, or experiencing, rough sleeping.
• More than £37 million for the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, providing ongoing support costs to help rough sleepers into longer term accommodation alongside specialist staff supporting their mental health and substance abuse problems to pave the way for job opportunities.
• £58.7 million for the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant to continue supporting evidence-based drug and alcohol treatment as well as providing wrap-around support staff who offer child-focused, family-centred, mental health programmes.
• £10 million to the Changing Futures Programmes which offers long-term support for adults experiencing multiple disadvantage, including combinations of homelessness, substance misuse, mental health, domestic abuse.
• £7.6 million for Sector Support grants that will strengthen the capacity the voluntary sector with more staff, including StreetLink that encourages people to notify their authority if they’ve seen someone sleeping rough and what local services are available to provide immediate help into emergency accommodation.
• £5 million for Emergency Accommodation Reduction Pilots, to work with 20 local councils with the highest use of Bed and Breakfast accommodation for homeless families to put in place specialised plans to reduce the use of emergency accommodation, including B&Bs.
