Government announces support for rough sleepers over winter

£66 million funding will provide safe and warm accommodation over winter

Extra help including counselling, rehab and detox services to support rough sleepers with drug and alcohol issues

Part of government’s drive to end rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament, backed by £640 million invested each year

Rough sleepers will be helped into safe and warm accommodation and treatment services for drug and alcohol dependency this winter, supported by an extra £66 million the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced today (29 October 2021).

The support will help rough sleepers off the streets at a time of year when they face falling temperatures and give them an opportunity to turn their lives around by ending the cycle of addiction.

Building on the success of the Everyone In initiative, which supported 37,000 vulnerable people into longer term accommodation during the pandemic, this support will continue to help rough sleepers off the streets.

Today’s announcement will help to deliver the government’s commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024.

More than 60 councils have been allocated a share of the up to £52 million Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant scheme for specialist support services for rough sleepers and those at risk, including one-to-one support and mentoring.

Voluntary, faith and community groups have been awarded grants from the £3.8 million Homelessness Transformation Fund to transform shared accommodation into COVID-secure, self-contained accommodation, giving rough sleepers safe places to stay.

Additionally, up to 3,500 rough sleepers will be provided with emergency accommodation, with areas most in need of support to tackle rough sleeping invited to bid for funding from the £10 million Winter Pressures Fund.

Rough sleeping has already reduced by over a third but the government will go even further with £640 million invested each year over the next 3 years to tackle the issue – a 85% increase in funding compared to 2019.

This builds on the £202 million for councils to continue to help people off the streets, funding 14,500 bed spaces for rough sleepers and 2,700 specialist support staff. This is on top of £112 million invested last year.

Those at risk of eviction are also being helped through the £310 million Homelessness Prevention Grant, with councils providing financial support or helping households find new homes. A £16 million pilot is also helping end the cycle of homelessness and hospital admissions by providing temporary accommodation, care and support for rough sleepers leaving hospital.

Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing, Eddie Hughes MP said:

Rough sleepers are some of the most vulnerable people in our society and we must help them off the streets and end the plight of rough sleeping once and for all.

That means providing somewhere safe and warm for them to stay, and this funding will be a lifeline for thousands as the temperature drops this winter.

We are also helping those trapped in drug and alcohol addiction and giving them the stability they need to turn their lives around.

Minister for Care, Gillian Keegan, said:

It’s crucial we support people experiencing homelessness – particularly those wanting to break the cycle of addiction.

This additional funding will not only help those personally fighting drug and alcohol addiction, but it will also benefit their friends, families and the communities who are also impacted by the consequences of substance misuse.

More widely, we continue to support people without a home, including around access to vaccines throughout the pandemic, and recently announcing £16 million for pilot projects to support homeless people being discharged from hospital.

Kathy Mohan, CEO at Housing Justice:

We’re pleased that we have for the second year running, been able to provide substantial funding for faith and community groups to provide COVID secure emergency accommodation in their local area.

These smaller organisations are at the centre of many communities’ response to homelessness, often operating on tight budgets.

This funding provides an opportunity for extra beds, implementing new ideas and increasing the options available to people experiencing rough sleeping

Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link:

As the winter months approach, it’s vital organisations have the capacity to provide single room accommodation to help reduce the number of people sleeping rough, while minimising the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Therefore, I am delighted to announce the list of grantees for this fund. I hope this winter provides a blueprint for future models of winter homelessness support, with single room accommodation becoming the norm.

Programmes and projects to benefit from the announcement include:

Leeds: funding a street-based psychologist, who refers rough sleepers to mental health and substance misuse services and a drop-in clinic in the city centre which also provides specialist support.

Westminster: funding the Westminster Rough Sleepers Drug and Alcohol Service, ensuring rough sleepers can access treatment programmes. Support is also provided for rough sleepers to access education, employment, or training once they have completed treatment.

Southampton: more staff are supporting those with complex needs and substance misuse issues and a clinical psychologist is making sure that those with mental health issues get the support they need.

Cambridge: funding a local charity working in partnership with the council to provide 20-bed self-contained rooms for a safe place this winter and route off the streets.

London: funding the All People All Places project that will provide support for 50 people in the winter months.

The Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant is entering its second year and is already supporting people sleeping rough in 43 councils to access structured drug and alcohol treatment including counselling, detox and rehab services.

Funding allocations

Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant and Homelessness Transformation Fund funding breakdowns

Rough Sleeping Drug & Alcohol Treatment Grant

Local authority

Funding awarded

Barnet

£256,706

Bedford

£263,596

Birmingham

£652,329

Blackpool

£345,562

Bolton

£318,633

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

£267,808

Bradford

£376,213

Brent

£273,000

Brighton and Hove

£337,623

Bristol, City of

£539,500

Cambridge

£380,944

Camden

£328,759

Cornwall

£623,569

County Durham

£91,960

Coventry

£263,939

Croydon

£555,500

Derby

£166,576

Doncaster

£173,443

Dorset

£250,820

Ealing

£601,384

Enfield

£425,422

Hackney and the City

£709,874

Haringey

£343,473

Hillingdon

£221,305

Islington

£287,559

Kingston upon Hull, City of

£321,739

Kingston upon Thames

£366,554

Lambeth

£404,187

Leeds

£444,315

Leicester

£409,420

Lewisham

£309,120

Liverpool

£589,104

Luton

£228,000

Manchester

£621,704

Middlesbrough

£214,917

Milton Keynes

£270,958

Newcastle upon Tyne

£170,250

Newham

£436,030

Northamptonshire

£393,125

Nottingham

£370,056

Oldham

£254,564

Oxford

£426,200

Peterborough

£377,136

Plymouth

£165,500

Portsmouth

£497,047

Preston

£383,458

Reading

£435,061

Redbridge

£286,428

Richmond upon Thames

£185,000

Rochdale

£141,650

Salford

£383,259

Sheffield

£376,378

Southampton

£248,308

Southend-on-Sea

£228,184

Southwark

£336,469

Stoke-on-Trent

£373,173

Tower Hamlets

£563,051

Waltham Forest

£183,455

Wandsworth

£285,800

West Sussex

£180,441

Westminster

£1,238,968

Wigan

£385,922

Homelessness Transformation Fund

Local authority

Project

Funding awarded

Bedford

King’s Arms Project

£144,393

Manchester

Caritas Diocese of Salford

£98,504

Westminster

Cardinal Hume Centre

£40,000

King’s Lynn and West Norfolk

King’s Lynn Winter Night Shelter

£81,199

Leicester

One Roof Leicester

£82,850

Medway

Kings Church - Caring Hands in the Community

£100,000

Ipswich

Selig Suffolk Trust

£85,952

Calderdale

Christians Together Calderdale

£157,596

Birmingham

St Anne’s Hostel

£68,640

Worcester

Maggs Day Centre

£92,437

Cornwall

Cosgarne Hall

£97,500

Harborough

Falcon Support Services

£92,930

Newham

NEWway Project

£95,388

Southwark

Robes Project

£92,420

Ealing

Hope for Southall Street Homeless

£42,350

Camden

C4WS Homeless Project

£95,388

Maidstone

Maidstone Churches Winter Shelter

£36,661

Manchester

Barnabus

£85,342

Hyndburn

Maundy Relief

£27,300

Canterbury

Catching Lives

£23,291

Medway

Medway Night Shelter

£48,620

Harrow

FirmFoundation

£64,689

Chesterfield

Pathways of Chesterfield

£42,140

Reigate and Banstead

Renewed Hope

£22,491

Leeds

West Yorkshire Destitute Asylum Network

£20,000

Cambridge

It Takes A City

£65,000

Bradford

Hope Housing

£50,000

Folkestone

Folkestone Rainbow Centre

£59,126

Peterborough

Light Project

£52,587

Haringey

Highway of Holiness

£92,092

Westminster

West London Mission

£66,082

Dover

Dover Outreach Centre

£30,000

Southwark

The Outside Project

£70,640

Bedford

SMART CJS

£84,983

Tower Hamlets

This is GrowTH Ltd

£96,298

Bromley

Bromley Homeless

£75,050

Luton

NOAH Enterprise

£79,982

Rugby

Hope 4 (Rugby) Ltd

£15,000

Camden

women@thewell

£17,300

Derby

Derby City Mission Ltd

£100,000

Waltham Forest

Forest Churches Emergency Night Shelter

£80,630

Gravesham

Gravesham Sanctuary CIO

£42,700

Bristol

InHope

£89,430

West Lancashire

West Lancashire Crisis & Information Centre

£62,037

Weymouth

The Bus Shelter

£29,484

Peterborough

Hope Into Action UK

£88,000

Hackney

Hackney Doorways

£14,280

Barnet

Together in Barnet

£95,388

Buckinghamshire

Wycombe Homeless Connection

£28,000

Greenwich

Greenwich Winter Night Shelter

£76,790

Eastbourne

Kingdom Way Trust

£18,788

Tameside

ANEW Approach CIC

£50,640

Bexley

Bexley Winter Shelter

£55,200

Swindon

Swindon Night Shelter

£36,995

Northumberland

StopGap Supported Housing

£32,000

Haringey & Enfield

All People All Places

£82,493

Reading

Faith Christian Group

£30,000

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