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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how his Department is working with the voluntary sector to reduce the level of rough sleeping.

The Government remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. That is why we are maintaining homelessness funding over this Spending Review period, building on our significant investment since 2010. We will increase central investment over the next four years to £139 million for innovative programmes to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have also protected homelessness prevention funding for local authorities, through the provisional local government finance settlement totalling £315 million by 2019/20.

But one person without a home is one too many, and I have had the opportunity to see first hand the vital role that voluntary sector organisations play in supporting vulnerable homeless people off the streets and into independence. I will continue to work closely with the voluntary sector and local authorities on how we improve the impact of homelessness services and break the cycle of homelessness. This includes the Department’s programme of work with Homeless Link, the national umbrella body for single homelessness organisations in England. I also host a regular forum with Chief Executives from the sector on how we best meet the needs of vulnerable homeless people, including rough sleepers, which is next meeting on 1 February.