Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of starting a national roll out of Housing First.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant is a consolidated rough sleeping fund aimed at tackling rough sleeping and is providing a total of £185.6 million to local authorities across England in 2025-26. Local authorities have the flexibility to choose to continue provision of their Housing First or Housing Led services through the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant allocations.
The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to develop a strategy to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This work includes taking into account what is working well nationally and locally and where improvements are needed.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will extend the exemption for the local connection test to survivors of modern slavery.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to ensuring that, where appropriate, barriers preventing vulnerable groups in need from accessing social housing are removed.
We are working with stakeholders to explore the detail of the proposed exemptions from local connection requirements further and consider what more needs to be done to support vulnerable cohorts, including victims of modern slavery.
There are alternative routes for vulnerable cohorts to access social housing. Guidance asks local authorities to make exemptions for applications with special circumstances, such as those who need to move for medical reasons or who are at risk of harm and to escape violence.