Homelessness

Baroness Thornhill Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The right reverend Prelate is right to highlight homelessness for ex-offenders. Since 2021, more than £33 million has been awarded to local authorities to support nearly 6,000 ex-offenders into their own private rented accommodation. The number of individuals still enrolled on the programme and sustaining tenancies is nearly 3,000. The funding provided allows schemes to offer a range of support. It is very important that, alongside housing, we get that support, consisting of rental deposits, landlord incentives, and dedicated support staff with landlord liaison and tenancy support officers. That complements the MoJ’s community accommodation service. The right reverend Prelate is right that housing is key to preventing re-offending.

[Baroness Thornhill (LD)]

My Lords, worryingly, the total spend on homelessness is unknown, largely due to a loophole in what we call exempt accommodation, which I am sure the Minister is aware of. The usage of this is not tracked, and it is now evident that it attracts some of the worst providers. Can the Minister assure us that this Government will get to grips with this unquantified and uncontrolled spending, and with those who are exploiting some of the most vulnerable people in society and the public purse?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is quite right. It is outrageous that people choose to exploit the individuals concerned in this situation and the councils that have to fund their accommodation. We are doing everything we can to discover the extent of this and to tackle it head on. We recognise the increasing costs of that temporary accommodation and the pressure that it places on council budgets. As well as the homelessness prevention grant, councils are expected to draw from their wider local government finance, as the noble Baroness is aware. The overall local government settlement made extra provision for that, as well as the additional homelessness funding. It is totally unacceptable for homeless people to be exploited. We continue to track that down everywhere we can.