Rough Sleeping and Good Growth Funds

Tom Collins Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising those vital points. He is absolutely right about looking at the “intentionally homeless” terminology, which I know colleagues are continuing to look at. I and other Ministers press the matter of local housing allowance with the Treasury, and we will continue to do so. On housing associations and councils selling off some of their empty properties, it is vital that housing associations and councils have the capital funding to bring such properties back into use, and we will continue to work with them on how they manage those properties.

[Tom Collins (Worcester) (Lab)]

In Worcester, I recently hosted a summit attended by representatives of over 30 organisations, from the national Government to regional agencies and authorities, and all the way to local charities and churches, which all pledged to work together to end rough sleeping in Worcester. One outcome of that summit was that it was clear that we need not only more resources, which are incredibly welcome; we also need to change the way of working. When people are affected by long-term ill health or disabilities, or the effects of crime and trauma, they need holistic support delivered relationally. This cuts across all Government Departments and services. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we might roll out, across Government, a change that wraps around people?

[Florence Eshalomi]

It seems as though my hon. Friend jumped the gun and held his own summit before we did at No. 10 today! It is good to hear about the lessons learned there. It sounds similar to what happened at the No. 10 summit, where organisations, charities, civic society, local leaders, local authorities and businesses all came together to make a pledge to work towards resolving this issue. It is vital that we learn lessons from such summits, and I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend.