Andy Burnham has announced plans to double spending aimed at ending rough sleeping, bringing total commitments to almost £900 million by the end of the current parliament. The move is presented as a stepped-up effort to remove people from the streets ahead of the Christmas period.
Downing Street is also due to allocate a further £432 million in this week’s budget, officials said, a sum that ministers say will contribute to a “lasting solution” to rough sleeping. The additional funding, combined with existing commitments, takes the total available for the initiative to nearly £900 million.
The prime minister has made a public pledge to offer every rough sleeper in England a safe route off the streets or access to wider support as a central part of his premiership. That commitment has been cited by ministers as the rationale for the heightened spending and the tighter timetable announced this week.
Officials framed the pledges as part of an intensified, cross-government push to reduce visible homelessness, with particular emphasis on moving people indoors ahead of the winter months. The announcements come at a politically sensitive moment, as ministers seek to demonstrate tangible progress on social issues in the run-up to key fiscal decisions.
Campaigners and local authorities have long called for greater investment in housing and support services to tackle the causes of rough sleeping. The newly outlined funding and the prime minister’s pledge signal an escalation of government attention to the problem, though detailed plans for how the money will be distributed and the measures used to measure success have not been set out in full by officials.