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Written question asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated) on Wednesday, 22 November 2023, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 December 2023. It was answered by Baroness Penn (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 December 2023 on behalf of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Homelessness

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address homelessness and alleviate the financial strain on affected councils.

Answer

Government is committed to ending rough sleeping and reducing homelessness and is spending £2 billion over 2022-25 on this, including £1 billion in England via Homelessness Prevention Grant to help local authorities prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation. Government is increasing Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of market rents from April and announced a further £120 million to help councils across UK address Ukraine and homelessness pressures in 2024/25.

Over the last three spending reviews, local government has seen real terms increases in Core Spending Power, and an injection of £5.1 billion last year, of which £3.1 billion was provided through central government grant. This year’s Local Government Finance Settlement will increase resources available to councils, on which we will set out more detail later this year. We recognise the challenges some face, and encourage any local authority with specific concerns about its ability to manage its budgets to come forward.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL530
Session
2023-24
Subjects
Finance Homelessness Local government
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk