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Question
The MP questioned the Government's lowered ambition and lack of leadership, citing a record high increase in young people sleeping rough. She highlighted concerns about cold weather funding reduction, night shelters' safety, no recourse to public funds policy changes leading to deportation, and urged for homeless veterans’ service records.
Minister reply
The Minister responded that £700 million has been allocated this year for homelessness and rough sleeping support. The Protect programme focuses on areas with high rough sleeping rates, and a winter fund of £10 million is available to all local authorities. She clarified the no recourse to public funds policy hasn't changed and local authorities can use their judgment in assessing needs. She emphasised measures supporting veterans facing homelessness.
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Question
The MP welcomed the Protect programme initiative but urged for future funding allocations to ensure certainty for local authorities, mental health charities and agencies offering wraparound support.
Minister reply
The Minister thanked her for highlighting the need for wraparound services and emphasised the importance of Housing First pilot projects. She committed to working with local authorities to provide necessary long-term solutions including both housing and supportive services.
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Question
I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Bristol West on securing this urgent question. This feels like groundhog day, with the Government yet again in the spotlight for their decision to withdraw prematurely the protections and support for the most vulnerable people during a second wave of covid. In recent weeks, they have had to U-turn on providing free school meals and on extending furlough. I rather suspect that, quite soon, they will have to U-turn on providing more support for people who have been left homeless. Thankfully, in Scotland, we have a Government with a bit more foresight than this bungling British Government, who reek of incompetence and chaos every single day. The SNP Government in Scotland have extended the ban on evictions until March, and we have committed to looking to extend that further to September if the evidence shows a clear need. Will the Minister do likewise? I am appalled by the reports that the British Government plan to deport non-UK nationals who are sleeping rough. That is a totally inhumane policy, devoid of any compassion and fairness, even by this Conservative Government’s standards. Will they now urgently reinstate the pause on asylum evictions so that communities and individuals who we know are at greater risk of covid-19 are not put at increased risk? Finally, has the Minister’s Department ever received any advice from Public Health England or, indeed, health directors about the risks to black and minority ethnic people being left homeless? If so, will she publish it? If not, why has she not commissioned it?
Minister reply
I respect the hon. Gentleman's comments, but he is completely incorrect in relation to this Government’s ongoing support for rough sleepers during the pandemic. We carried out an unprecedented and world-leading programme in Everyone In, we worked with local authorities constructively and intensively to develop programmes for the continuation of that support through Next Steps and Move On, and we secured accommodation. This Protect programme is the next step within that, and it is the Government taking quick action for what is now required within the restricted period and into the winter fund. We announced the winter fund only a couple of weeks ago, and now we are on the Protect programme, so it is absolutely incorrect and completely wrong to suggest that this Government have not been taking the issue seriously and have not put the resources where they are needed. I have been determined over recent weeks, as the Minister, to make sure we have local authority by local authority checks on what is happening, looking at the local interactions on the ground. The hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) is categorically incorrect to say that we are deporting EU nationals who are sleeping rough. That is not what is happening, as he knows. In actual fact, we have been working with local authorities on the support and offer they can give to immigrants with no recourse to public funds at local level. Quite rightly, my colleagues in the Home Office and I are working through many issues that affect a number of different people.
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Question
I welcome the measures and the very significant funding that the Minister has announced today. Does she agree that it is important to take the same kind of approach as that taken by Rugby Borough Council through its preventing homelessness and improving lives programme? That has made a tremendous difference to local families at risk of homelessness through early intervention by a dedicated support team, working with those who are vulnerable to prepare a plan to avoid a crisis situation later.
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right: it is by the good practice of councils such as Rugby Borough Council and programmes of that nature that they are able to work with those families and individuals before there is a need for them to sleep rough or become homeless—it is prevention. We know that since we implemented the Homelessness Reduction Act, that has had a significant impact in many parts of the country. I am pleased that we are determined and committed to make sure we implement that even further and work with local authorities to get better results.
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Question
First, congratulations are due on the efforts that were made to get rough sleepers off the streets from March onwards. Great work was done by councils with voluntary organisations and with good support financially from the Government as well. The real pressure on councils now, I am told by my own city of Sheffield, is from people presenting as homeless from the private rented sector. An increase has led Sheffield City Council, which is very good at dealing with these matters, to have 80 families now in hotels and another 200 in temporary accommodation. That will cost the council around £500,000 extra in this financial year. If dealing with homelessness has to be a priority for councils, which certainly it should be, will the Minister make it a priority for Government to make sure that councils have the extra resources they need directly to continue delivering the services that people in the private rented sector will need in the coming, very trying months?
Minister reply
I thank the hon. Member for his comments and articulation of the work that has been done by the Government and many local authorities and the voluntary and charitable sector in the covid-19 pandemic. He is absolutely right that we need to monitor and make sure we are working intensively with local authorities to understand the needs and the challenges. That is why we are working with local authorities to provide plans, that is why we have put in the Next Steps funding, to provide that Move On and Next Steps accommodation support. We will continue that work through the winter and evaluate any impacts that we are seeing through the covid pandemic. We need to bear in mind that we have also provided councils with over £6 billion in funding to deal with some of the issues that are coming out of the covid pandemic.
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Question
I congratulate my hon. Friend on her appointment and on attending the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness within days and answering our questions. I also congratulate the Government on a brilliant job in pulling rough sleepers off the streets and putting them into secure accommodation. As my hon. Friend rightly says, the problem now is that every case of homelessness is a unique one. Many people who have been rough sleeping have physical and mental health problems, and they are also probably addicted to drink, drugs or other substances, so it is vital that we roll out the Housing First initiative from the pilot sites throughout the country and also fully fund my Homelessness Reduction Act when the funding for it comes to an end. Will she therefore commit to rolling out Housing First across the country and to ensuring that local authorities are fully funded for their duties under my Act?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and it was a pleasure to attend the APPG. I also thank him for his work in this area, for which he is a passionate advocate. Housing First is a great pilot, and we have continued to make sure that we can get individuals through those schemes, even during the pandemic. We are working with those sites to make sure that we can maximise that funding and that pilot to get the data and information. I am very supportive of the Housing First programme, and I would very much like to extend it. That is something that we will be working on in Government. I am committed to making sure that the Homelessness Reduction Act is implemented fully, and we will have further discussions about the funding to be able to deliver on that.
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Question
A street homelessness reduction programme is not world leading if the numbers sleeping rough on our streets are rising. It is shocking that the number of young people sleeping rough on our streets is now at a record high. What will the Minister do to ensure that homelessness prevention services offer appropriate support to young people with particular needs, such as young prison leavers?
Minister reply
I refute the assumption that rough sleeping numbers are increasing because of the action taken during the pandemic. If we look at the snapshot, we see that in actual fact at September there was a significant reduction in rough sleeping compared with last year. We have been working hard with local authorities in order that everyone who had been brought on to the Everyone In scheme has stayed in emergency accommodation or moved on to Next Steps accommodation. We are working hard to make sure that those numbers are reducing. The hon. Lady makes an incredibly important point about young people, their particular needs and the threat of becoming homeless. I am working with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice on how we can further support offenders. I have a particular interest in young people and care leavers, and we are investigating what other measures we can put in place to support them when they are at threat of homelessness.
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Question
I welcome the Government’s commitment to £311,000 for the borough of Gedling for local secure-accommodation schemes for people at risk of sleeping on the street. Does my hon. Friend agree that this funding is a significant step forward towards fulfilling our manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024? Will she join me in thanking all those in Gedling who have worked so hard to get vulnerable people into safe, secure accommodation?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for his comment and pay tribute to those not only in his constituency but throughout the country who are working and have worked incredibly hard over the summer and through the pandemic to make sure that those individuals have had the help and support they require. He is absolutely right that this funding is part of our next steps to reach our target and make sure that we tackle some of the issues and develop the accommodation to house some of the most vulnerable in our society.
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Question
The Government’s decision to bring forward the eviction ban was welcome, but it is not working. Will the Minister outline what steps the Government will take to ensure that the ban is properly enforced?
Minister reply
We have placed a ban on evictions and asked bailiffs to pause evictions over the Christmas period until 11 January. We are also reviewing and monitoring the situation.
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Question
The Government have supported 29,000 people this year to achieve their ambition of ending rough sleeping by the end of Parliament. Will my hon. Friend commit to ensuring that those who have been helped will continue to get support?
Minister reply
We are committed to doing exactly that and we are developing practices and policies to ensure that we can reach our commitment of ending rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament.
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Question
How will the Secretary of State keep his promise that no one will lose their home due to a drop in income because of covid? Will he raise local housing allowance so that nobody finds it less than the rent they owe?
Minister reply
We have asked bailiffs to pause evictions over the Christmas period and we are committed to abolishing section 21, but legislation must be balanced and considered to achieve the right outcomes for the sector.
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Question
Will the Minister reassure me that veterans continue to have priority need to keep them off the streets? Will local authorities have the resources to give them a home they deserve?
Minister reply
Veterans have and will continue to have priority when it comes to reducing homelessness. We will continue to work with our colleagues in the Ministry of Defence to ensure that those veterans can get access to the support and services they need.
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Question
Why does the Minister think there has been a 78% increase in homeless children since 2010? What is causing this issue?
Minister reply
This Government are investing in programmes to address homelessness, including the Move On programme and Next Steps accommodation programme. We are also committed to long-term investment in housebuilding, affordable, and social rented homes.
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Question
How is the support from local government trickling down to charities like YMCA Lincolnshire? Can we empower and support charities more during a pandemic?
Minister reply
We are working intensively with local authorities on plans for how that money will be spent, and on the impact on the ground. If my right hon. Friend has any further details, I will happily take up this issue.
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Question
The enforced evictions guidance does not protect against bailiffs despite Government asking bailiffs to hold fire. Will the Minister commit to banning evictions through legislation and increasing funding for local authority discretionary housing payments?
Minister reply
There is a six-month stay on possession proceedings in court until 30 September, and only egregious cases will be taken forward. We are committed to not expecting any evictions to take place.
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Question
Is it just sad when we see homelessness and rough sleeping on our streets? Dorset Council has reduced rough sleeping by 39% up until 2019, while Bristol City Council saw an increase of 20%. Should the shadow Secretary of State ask questions of her own Labour-run Bristol City Council?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I would like to praise the work of Dorset Council and we hope that lessons will be learned throughout the country.
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Question
As chair of the all-party parliamentary dog advisory welfare group, I have been contacted by Dogs on the Streets to discuss challenges faced by homeless people with pets. Will the Minister meet me and Dogs on the Streets to explore options?
Minister reply
I will happily meet the hon. Lady to discuss this issue that affects both those sleeping rough and those at threat of being made homeless.
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Question
What steps is my hon. Friend taking to increase housing availability for people currently experiencing homelessness, given the 2019 report on short-term shelters and the sharp rise in homelessness before covid?
Minister reply
The Government are investing over £150 million in permanent accommodation, delivering 3,300 units, which is the biggest investment since the early ’90s.
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Question
What advice does the Minister give to homeless individuals who are being housed through public funds in relation to their immigration status?
Minister reply
Local authorities assess those individuals and decide whether they can provide lawful support within that area. Individuals are not removed on grounds of sleeping rough.
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Question
Can the Minister reaffirm her commitment to work with the West Midlands Combined Authority, particularly Andy Street and his homelessness taskforce, which has seen year-on-year decreases in rough sleepers?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend and will continue to work with all parts of the country to achieve the ambition of ending rough sleeping.
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Question
Given the 2019 statistic that one in 46 people were homeless in Redbridge, can the Minister ensure a permanent end to rough sleeping once lockdown ends?
Minister reply
The Government have committed to ending rough sleeping and will continue working with local authorities to deliver on this promise.
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Question
How many additional homes does the Government intend to fund by the end of this Parliament for individuals at risk of rough sleeping?
Minister reply
We are delivering 3,300 homes by March 2021 and aim to deliver over 6,000 in total. We will continue to work with local authorities.
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Question
Does the Minister agree that her Government should look at the link between homelessness, rough sleeping and how children are treated in care in this country?
Minister reply
The Government are working across Departments to find solutions and develop policies to tackle these issues.
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Question
Does the Minister agree that investment in preventive work is key to making lasting change for people coming off the streets?
Minister reply
She is absolutely right. We are working with local authorities and organisations to develop programmes for prevention, support and mentoring.
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Question
Can the Minister confirm whether funding from the Protect programme can be used to help those sleeping rough who have no recourse to public funds?
Minister reply
Local authorities assess support based on individual needs. Individuals with no recourse to public funds are not removed due to homelessness.
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Question
Can the Minister use her good offices to ensure that money goes directly to frontline services quickly in two-tier areas?
Minister reply
I will use my position to make sure that the funding is targeted at and provided where it is actually needed.
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Question
Welcomes the Minister to her post but criticises the high turnover of Ministers in this position. Acknowledges Government's efforts but raises concerns about hidden homelessness, families struggling due to housing issues exacerbated by the pandemic. Proposes a housing market package for hard-to-sell properties.
Minister reply
Acknowledges the hon. Lady’s question and offers to meet her to discuss particular issues affecting her area. Reiterates that London has received significant support with Next Steps accommodation, which aims to move individuals out of temporary emergency accommodation into longer-term stability.
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Question
Thank the Government for supporting 29,000 people who have been rough sleeping this year alone. Acknowledges local charities in her constituency working tirelessly to support rough sleepers.
Minister reply
Passes on thanks to charities and organisations in Suzanne Webb’s constituency for their work during the pandemic, highlighting the constructive collaboration between the Government and charitable/voluntary sectors.
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Question
Questions whether permanent funding can be provided to end homelessness, suggesting that it should not just be an emergency response but a year-round commitment. Criticises spending on covid contracts for friends and family of the Conservative party.
Minister reply
Explains that part of the follow-on from the Everyone In programme is Next Steps funding which provides £150 million investment in permanent accommodation, the largest such investment since the ’90s.
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Question
Acknowledges progress in Cornwall to combat homelessness and rough sleeping but emphasises the need for long-term solutions rather than short-term fixes. Mentions £5.5 million provided by the Government since September.
Minister reply
Agrees that investment in long-term secure homes is crucial, committed to working with local authorities including Cornwall, to understand specific challenges and deliver change effectively.