The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Marcus Jones)
I am today updating the House on a commitment I made during the passage of the Homelessness Reduction Act—the right hon. Member for Harrow East’s (Bob Blackman) Private Member’s Bill—to fund the additional duties contained within the Act in line with the new burdens doctrine. Following further discussions with local authorities on the new duties, the Government are providing an additional £11.7 million in new burdens funding, taking the total amount of new burdens funding from £61 million to £72.7 million.
The Government will provide £72.7 million to local authorities to meet the new burdens costs associated with the new duties contained within the Act over the course of the spending review. It is anticipated that the additional duties to prevent homelessness will lead to savings for local authorities thereafter.
I am also announcing the local authority allocations of the new burdens funding. The Government have worked with local authorities and the Local Government Association to test the methodology behind the distribution, as well as the core assumptions of the costs of administering the new duties. The distribution reflects the differing need in different authorities. The funding has been allocated according to a formula which reflects where resource pressures are likely to increase as a result of administering the new duties contained in the Act. The details of allocations and new burdens assessment are attached.
Today I am also launching a consultation on the Homelessness Code of Guidance which will support local authorities’ work to prepare for the implementation of the Act. Additionally, Government will be providing local authorities with an equally distributed share of £3 million to support them in upgrading their data systems to monitor the impact of the Homelessness Reduction Act.
The Homelessness Reduction Act will significantly reform England’s homelessness legislation and ensure that more people get the help they need to prevent and relieve homeless. It forms part of the Government’s end-to-end approach to tackling homelessness, helping both those at risk of homelessness and those experiencing a crisis. The new burdens funding for the Act sits alongside other funding for homelessness, including the £315 million homelessness prevention funding, our £50 million homelessness prevention package and the £402 million flexible homelessness support grant.
Attachments can be viewed online at: http://www. parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions- answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-10-16/HCWS176.
[HCWS176]