Richard has welcomed the news that Bedford Borough Council is to receive £864,484 and Central Bedfordshire Council £667,339 of additional government support to prevent vulnerable people becoming homeless.
This funding is part of a £316 million Homelessness Prevention Grant to support households in England who are homeless or at risk of losing their home. Councils will use the funding to help them find a new home, access support for unexpected evictions and secure temporary accommodation where needed.
The funding includes an additional £5.8 million to support people forced into homelessness by domestic abuse of which Bedford Borough will receive £15,747 and Central Bedfordshire, £16,971. This follows the landmark Domestic Abuse Act, which ensures councils give people who find themselves in this situation a “priority need” for assistance.
Richard Fuller, MP for North East Bedfordshire, which covers both Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Local Authorities, said:
The Government has made excellent progress on its commitment to end rough sleeping, with rough sleeping levels falling 37% between 2019 and 2020. This additional funding boost underlines the government’s commitment to ensure people at risk of becoming homeless get help more quickly.
The Homelessness Prevention Grant, available for 2022/23, is on top of the recently-announced £66 million to provide rough sleepers with safe and warm accommodation and drug and alcohol treatment services this winter, and £65 million support package for vulnerable renters struggling due to the impact of the pandemic.
Overall, the government is investing £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. The Government has also announced a £28 million funding boost to help rough sleepers get their COVID-19 vaccines and move into safe accommodation. The Protect and Vaccinate scheme will help to increase vaccine uptake among people who are homeless and sleeping rough, by supporting outreach work in shelters to educate people about the dangers of the virus, giving money to councils to provide safe and secure accommodation while their level of vaccination is increased and delivering mobile vaccinations.
