Here's the governments 'dealing with homelessness in the UK' initiative. So go on?? carry on saying they aren't doing anything -
The Department for Communities and Local Government is committed to preventing and tackling homelessness and rough sleeping, supported by ??400 million funding over this Parliament.
Our first priority on homelessness is prevention. In June 2010 we established a cross-government working group on homelessness, bringing together ministers from 8 government departments. The group works to improve the lives of those who do become homeless and helps rough sleepers to stay off the streets.
In December 2011 we announced a further ??18.5 million funding for local councils to prevent homelessness. This will help local councils ensure nobody is turned away without clear and useful advice when they??re most in need. We??ve also given Crisis ??13 million to help find single homeless people, including priority groups such as recovering drug users and ex-offenders, find stable, privately rented accommodation.
We??re investing an additional ??1.7 million in a new scheme to support local councils to deliver a Gold Standard homelessness prevention service. The peer-led support scheme will provide free training and support to help homelessness teams learn from each other. It will be run by the National Practitioner Support Service and supported by the National Homelessness Advice Service.
We helped with the national roll out of No Second Night Out through the ??20 million Homelessness Transition Fund and continue to support the government-backed hotline and web service Streetlink.
In February 2014 we published the fourth annual statistical release following the introduction of revised guidance on evaluating the extent of rough sleeping. The figures revealed that nearly 2,500 people sleep out across England on any given night.
We??re working with the Cabinet Office on the Fair Chance Fund - a ??15 million payment by results programme. The prgramme targets young, homeless people (mainly 18 to 24 year olds) with difficult which if left unaddressed, are likely to lead to long-term benefit dependency, health problems and increased crime.
We have also worked with the voluntary sector to develop the ??Youth Accommodation Pathway?? which helps young people to remain in the family home where it is safe to do so and offers tailored support options for those that can??t.
We??re working with the Department of Health on their ??40 million capital funding programme for homelessness hostel refurbishment and shared accommodation for vulnerable young people in 2015 to 2016. The homeless hostels investment will extend the DCLG Homelessness Change Programme with an additional focus on improving health.
We are providing funding and support to homelessness charities Crisis and St Mungos Broadway over 2 years to give the most vulnerable homeless people in London the right skills and training to get into work through the STRIVE (skills, training, innovation and employment) pilot.