Written Statements
(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Funding
(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Felicity Buchan)
I am pleased to inform the House that my Department has today confirmed further funding for three of our homelessness and rough sleeping grants:
£107 million allocated through the single homelessness accommodation programme;
£109 million allocated to councils across England as a top up to the homelessness prevention grant to help address Ukraine and homelessness pressures; and
£6 million allocated to London and across 101 local authorities in England, via the 2023-24 rough sleeping winter pressures funding, bringing the total of the fund to £10 million.
Taken together with our existing investment this means Government are providing nearly £2.4 billion to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping between 2022 and 2025. These announcements build on the significant support we have put in through our rough sleeping strategy, “Ending Rough Sleeping For Good”, and are a further example of our ongoing commitment to end rough sleeping.
We have confirmed today that we are allocating a further £107 million to councils in England through the single homelessness accommodation programme. The programme aims to increase the supply of high-quality accommodation with accompanying support for people with the longest histories of rough sleeping or the most complex needs and vulnerable young people—aged 18 to 25 —who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping.
This allocation, following a final bidding round, will fund the delivery of 808 homes and three years of support for their occupants. This adds to 1,230 homes funded through the previous four bidding rounds. Meanwhile, we have funded 6,000 homes through the £433 million rough sleeping accommodation programme and housed over 1,090 people through the £42 million Housing First programme. The Government are also providing additional support to house Afghans and others in temporary accommodation through the £1.2 billion local authority housing fund, which is expected to deliver around 7,000 homes by 2026.
We have also confirmed today that councils in England will receive an additional £109 million in 2024-25 via a top up to the homelessness prevention grant. This funding can be used flexibly—for example, to offer financial support for people to find a new home or to work with landlords to prevent evictions, among other preventive measures, or to provide temporary accommodation.
This funding forms part of the £120 million UK-wide funding announced at autumn statement 2023 to help councils address homelessness pressures and support Ukrainian guests who can no longer remain in sponsorship in 2024-25. The remaining funding has been allocated to Scotland (£7.7 million), Wales (£2.6 million) and Northern Ireland (£0.6 million) to help prevent homelessness among Ukrainians.
Finally, we have given a further £6 million to councils in England through the rough sleeping winter pressures funding, which builds on the initial allocation of £4 million announced in January. We know that winter is particularly high-risk for individuals who are sleeping rough, increasing the demand for immediate “off-the-street” accommodation, and this funding will support councils to create additional off-street capacity and reduce the risk of deaths from exposure to extreme weather. This complements funding already provided to councils through the rough sleeping initiative 2022 to 2025, which totals over £547 million across three years.
The funding announced today forms part of a wider package of support for people who are homeless or sleeping rough, and further demonstrates the Government’s commitment to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping, working in partnership with local government and the voluntary sector to achieve this ambitious aim.
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Contingencies Fund Advance
(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Alister Jack)
I hereby give notice of the Scotland Office’s intention to seek a repayable cash advance from the Contingencies Fund. The Department requires an advance to meet the Scottish Government’s cash requirements pending parliamentary approval of the supplementary estimate 2023-24.
The Scottish Government are operating within their budgets, so this does not represent additional spending. However, an increase in net cash requirement will be sought in the supplementary estimate, so accessing the Contingencies Fund will allow the Scottish Government to fund this existing spending in the meantime.
The advance will be repaid immediately following approval of the supplementary estimate.
Parliamentary approval for additional non-budget expenditure of £703,711,000 will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the Scotland Office. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £703,711,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.
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Decommissioning Temporary Jobcentres
(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Minister for Employment (Jo Churchill)
We previously provided updates on decommissioning Temporary Jobcentres (“Expanding Our Services” on 23 March 2021, and “Expanding Our Services: Update” on 21 October 2021). These statements reaffirmed the Department’s commitment to reducing its Jobcentre estate back to pre-pandemic levels by decommissioning the temporary jobcentres or the additional space in established jobcentres in a phased approach, where the increased capacity is no longer needed. The full list of temporary jobcentres and their current status can be found here: www.gov.uk/guidance/temporary-jobcentres-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic. Temporary Jobcentre Location Address Aberdeen Unit C and D City Wharf, Shiprow, Aberdeen AB11 5BY Basingstoke Centenary House, 10 Winchester Road, Basingstoke RG21 8UG Birmingham (South) 1 Facet Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham B38 9PT Blackpool 8 Albert Road, Blackpool FY1 4SW Bradford Unit D, Bradford Business Park, Kings Gate, Bradford BD1 4SJ Chatham Unit 61A, Dockside Outlet Centre, Maritime Way, St Mary’s Island, Chatham ME4 3ED Coventry MSU D First Floor, West Orchards Shopping Centre, Smithford Way, Coventry CV1 1QL Eastbourne 1 Grove Road, Eastbourne BN21 4TW Edinburgh Waverley Bridge Unit L23, Waverley Mall, Waverley Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1BQ Fareham 95 West Street, Fareham PO16 0AQ Halesowen 60 Whitehall Road, Halesowen B63 3JS Kidderminster Unit J2 Crossley Retail Park, Carpet Trades Way, Kidderminster DY11 6DY Leicester Pegasus House, 17 Burleys Way, Leicester LE1 3BE London Barnet Building 2, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, Barnet N11 1GN London Cooks Road (Newham) 1-4 Cooks Road, London E15 2PW London Ilford (Redbridge) The Exchange, High Road, Ilford, IG1 1RS London Queen’s Park (Brent Wembley) 111-115 Salusbury Road, Queens Park, London NW6 6RG London Royal Albert Dock (Newham) Altitude, 14 Lascars Avenue, Royal Albert Dock London E16 2YP London Woolwich 71-77 Powis Street, Woolwich, Greenwich SE18 6JB Macclesfield Unit 2 The Silk Works, Pickford Street, Macclesfield SK11 6JD Manchester (Central) 58 Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3HZ Milton Keynes Phoenix House, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 1AW Norwich Lower Units 16, 17, 18 and Upper Units 10, 11, 12, Castle Quarter, Norwich NR1 3DD Peterlee 56 Yoden Way, Peterlee SR8 1AS Portsmouth 5a Edinburgh Road, Portsmouth PO1 1DE Slough 4 The Observatory, High Street, Slough SL1 1LE Solihull Jago House, 692 Warwick Road, Solihull B91 3DX Staines upon Thames 100 Church Street, Staines upon Thames TW18 4DQ Sutton in Ashfield Broadway, Brook Street, Sutton in Ashfield NG17 1AL Additional Space Location Address Ayr (reabsorbed) Wallacetoun House, John Street, Ayr KA8 0BX Cambridge (reabsorbed) Henry Giles House, 73-79 Chesterton Road, Cambridge CB4 3BQ Horsham (reabsorbed) Marlborough House, 50 East Street, Horsham RH12 1HN Lancaster (reabsorbed) Mitre House, Church Street, Lancaster LA1 1JW Leamington Spa (reabsorbed) Brandon House, Holly Walk, Leamington Spa CV32 4JE London Peckham (Southwark) (reabsorbed) 24-26 Peckham High Street, Peckham, London SE15 5DS Shrewsbury (decommissioned) Princess House 3rd Floor, 17-19 The Square, Shrewsbury SY1 1YA Sittingbourne (reabsorbed) Roman House, 9 Roman Square, Sittingbourne ME10 4BP Southport (reabsorbed) Eastbank House, Eastbank Street, Southport PR8 1HE St Albans (reabsorbed) Beauver House, 6 Bricket Road, St Albans AL1 3JU St Helens (reabsorbed) Gregson House, Central Street, St Helens WA10 1UF Waltham Cross (reabsorbed) 235 High Street, Waltham Cross EN8 7BA York (reabsorbed) 1st Floor, 11-17 Monkgate, York YO31 7JZ Temporary Jobcentre Location Address Ashton Under Lyne 101 Old Street, Ashton Under-Lyne OL6 6BJ Birmingham B1, 50 Summer Hill Road, Birmingham B1 3RB Bournemouth 580 Tringham House, Deansleigh Road Bournemouth BH7 7DT Bradford Aldermanbury House, 2 - 4 Godwin Street, Bradford BD1 2ST Colwyn Bay Unit B, Bay View Centre, Sea View Road, Colwyn Bay LL29 8DG Doncaster The Blue Building, 39-40 High Street, Doncaster DN1 1DE Keighley Unit 1 Hanover House, 49 Low Street, Keighley BD21 3PP Kings Lynn 30-34 Broad Street, Kings Lynn PE30 1DP London Barnsbury (Islington) Unit 1a and 1b, 427 - 429 Caledonian Road, London, N7 9BG London Clapham (Lambeth) Clapham Place, Unit 1, 340 Clapham Road, London SW9 9FA Preston Fishergate Shopping Centre, Preston PR1 8HJ Stafford 30 Greengate Street, Stafford ST16 2HY
As part of this ongoing, phased approach to decommissioning the temporary jobcentres, the Department is today announcing the sixth and latest phase, which consists of decommissioning a further 42 temporary sites or additional spaces in existing jobcentres. This latest phase brings the total number of temporary sites announced to date to 182. Details of the sites being decommissioned in this latest phase are listed below.
The remaining 12 sites of the 194 originally opened will be either decommissioned or absorbed into the estate in the coming months and we will individually update all those Members whose constituencies are affected at the time.
The decommissioning of temporary jobcentres will not reduce the levels of service, or access to face-to-face appointments. Customers will return to being served by an established Jobcentre and there will be no reduction in the number of work coaches supporting customers as a result of the decommissioning.
The Department continues to support and update colleagues in a timely and sensitive manner. We also remain committed to ensuring all relevant stakeholders, unions, organisations and Parliament are engaged and regularly updated on our work. Letters are being sent to each right hon. and hon. Member with changes in their constituency to explain what this means for their local jobcentre, its staff, and their constituents.
Finally, in conjunction with this carefully planned decommissioning programme, we are looking to improve and upgrade jobcentres over time. It is important that all those who come to jobcentres are given the highest level of attention and service.
The 42 temporary jobcentres or additional space in existing sites to be formally decommissioned are:
Additional space in established jobcentres
Additional space will be decommissioned or reabsorbed into the estate and services will continue as usual.
The 12 remaining temporary jobcentres or additional space in existing sites to be decommissioned or absorbed into the estate in the coming months are:
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