People at risk of rough sleeping and homelessness will be able to access extra support in Bedford Borough, after the Government announced £222,563 in additional funding as part of a wider plan to end rough sleeping for good by 2024.
Bedford is one of forty-three areas across England that will share an additional £23 million to pay for drug and alcohol misuse services targeted at vulnerable people at risk of rough sleeping in 2020-21. From April next year, funding for the programme will more than double to £52 million for 2021-22 with future allocations to be announced at a later date.
Thousands of rough sleepers who are being provided with emergency accommodation during the pandemic as part of the Government’s ‘Everyone In’ programme, and people who are currently rough sleeping, will be eligible for the support. The funding will pay for them to access drug and alcohol treatment, including detox and rehabilitation support, and to access mental health and substance dependence workers who can help them get their life back on track
Government spending on rough sleeping and homelessness this year is over £700 million, with the ‘Everyone In’ campaign helping to protect thousands of lives during the pandemic by housing rough sleepers in safe accommodation.
Commenting, Richard said: “Throughout the pandemic, the Government has supported thousands of rough sleepers and people at risk of homelessness, keeping them off the streets and protected from coronavirus. This additional funding is hugely welcome and means we can go further and do important work to tackle the cycle of alcohol and substance misuse that, sadly, is often an underlying factor in why people end up on the streets both locally and in other communities across the country.
“Under this Conservative Government, more than £700 million is being invested this year alone to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, delivering on the promise we made at the last election to end rough sleeping completely by 2024.”
