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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the announcement on 26 July 2022 that £10 million will be made available over three years to support providers of night shelters to transform their services in England through the Night Shelter Transformation Fund, if he will remove the criteria that only permits the submission of applications by organisations with a turnover of up to £5 million; if he will place a copy of his reply to the letter from Andy Winter, Chief Executive of the Brighton Housing Trust, dated 27 July 2022 about that criteria in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

The Night Shelter Transformation Fund is available to small to medium sized faith and community organisations with up to £5 million annual turnover who provide accommodation and support to people experiencing rough sleeping in a night shelter setting. DLUHC have utilised intelligence from the sector and knowledge gained from previous funds of this kind in forming this eligibility criteria. As detailed in the Fund's prospectus, organisations with a higher turnover may apply in specific circumstances, for example if an organisation is the only local emergency accommodation provider in a particular area.

I encourage Brighton Housing Trust to contact our sector partners Homeless Link or Housing Justice to discuss other grant funding opportunities. Brighton Housing Trust may also wish to contact their local authority partners to discuss further opportunities.