Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of removing the ring-fencing on Supporting People funding on the provision of homelessness services.

The Government is committed to tackling rough sleeping and homelessness, which is why we are providing over £1.2 billion of funding to address the issue. This year we have implemented the Homelessness Reduction Act, published our £100 million Rough Sleeping Strategy and taken immediate action to begin to reduce the number of people rough sleeping.

We also announced this summer that funding for housing costs across the supported accommodation sector, including short-term accommodation like homelessness hostels, will stay in Housing Benefit and that we would undertake a review of housing-related support. While the review will not assess the effect of the removal of the ringfence, it will help us better understand how housing and support fit together across the supported housing sector, including in supported homelessness provision.