Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce

(asked on 6th March 2019) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Ministerial Taskforce last met; and what plans there are for future meetings.


Answered by
Heather Wheeler Portrait
Heather Wheeler
This question was answered on 13th March 2019

The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and ending rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. In its first year, the Rough Sleeping Initiative provided over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff.

The Taskforce met for the first time on 7 March 2018 and continues to meet on a regular basis to support the implementation of the Rough Sleeping Strategy and to support development and implementation of policies to reduce broader homelessness.

The Taskforce is chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Rt Hon David Lidington MP, and reports to the Prime Minister. Its membership brings together ministers from key departments, which includes the Secretaries of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice, HM Treasury and six junior ministers whose portfolios cover rough sleeping and homelessness.

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