I believe that, in a civilized society, it is unacceptable that people should be faced with the fear of homelessness. As a proud supporter of Julian House, Genesis Trust, and many other local charities that address these issues, I know how vitally important it is to help the most vulnerable in society get their lives back on track. I will also be attending a Parliamentary reception on homelessness later this month where I hope to learn more on what we can do to help.
I believe that it is right that the Government focuses on prevention and so I am glad that it is providing support for prevention in a number of ways. The Government recognises that the Homelessness Prevention Grant has been a powerful tool in combatting homelessness. Indeed, Government investment in local authority and voluntary sector homelessness services has contributed to local authorities preventing 935,800 households from becoming homeless since 2010.
The Spending Review will be published on 25 November, and will outline how the Government will deliver the remaining £20 billion of consolidation required. While taking further action to achieve this will involve difficult decisions, the Government is committed to eliminating the deficit in a fair and balanced way.
Be assured that the Government is working hard to reduce levels of homelessness. The Ministerial Working Group was set up in 2010 in order to tackle the problems faced by rough sleepers and those at risk of homelessness and since then, over £500 million has been made available to give councils and the voluntary sector the tools needed to tackle homeless. The £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund, for instance, is helping the national roll-out of the 'No Second Night Out' scheme, ensuring that rough sleepers do not spend more than one night on the street. Alongside this, the 'StreetLink' initiative provides a national hotline to connect rough sleepers to local services. Further to this, £10 million has been provided to the National Homelessness Advice service and £8 million for the Help for Single Homeless Fund. It is estimated that this will help 22,000 people in 168 areas across England by April 2016. A total of £55 million has also been made available for the 'Platform for Life' programme as well as 'Homelessness Change', which provides tailored hostel accommodation to improve the physical and mental health of rough sleepers and supports them towards independent living.
I am proud that levels of homelessness are now lower than in 27 of the last 30 years and I am confident that by following these initiatives we can work together to reduce these figures even further.