Scott Mann has welcomed the news that the Government is giving over a quarter of a million pounds to Cornwall Council to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, with nearly £1.5 million announced for the whole of Devon and Cornwall.
The money comes from the Government’s £50 million Homelessness Prevention Programme, which includes a £20 million Rough Sleeping Fund. This includes:
- a £20 million Rough Sleeping Fund to help new rough sleepers, or people at imminent risk of sleeping rough, get the rapid support they need to recover and move on from a rough sleeping crisis;
- £10 million of funding for Social Impact Bonds to provide targeted support for vulnerable, entrenched single homeless people. This will build on the success of the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond in London; and
- £20 million for local authorities to trial new initiatives as Prevention Trailblazers, working with a wider group of at risk people to help families and individuals before they reach crisis point.
The Government has also pledged its support to Bob Blackman MP’s Homelessness Prevention Bill which will reform England’s homelessness legislation and ensure that more people get the help they need to prevent a homelessness crisis in the first place. Scott Mann has also pledged his support for the Bill.
Announcing the distribution of funds, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, revealed that Cornwall would get £292,000 from the Rough Sleeping Grant.
Welcoming the news, Scott Mann said:
“No-one in Cornwall should be sleeping rough and I very much welcome this extra money for the county.
“Homelessness and rough sleeping has been making headlines in the county in the last few weeks, and this extra cash will really help local authorities to tackle the issue and help vulnerable people who are sleeping on the street or who are facing that reality.
“Homelessness is not isolated to Cornwall, and that’s why it’s very welcome that Devon is getting £1.2 million so that rough sleeping can be addressed on a wider scale on both sides of the Tamar.”
As well as the £292,000 for Cornwall, grants of £1.2 million were also announced for Torbay, North Devon, Torridge, Exeter, Teignbridge, East Devon and Mid Devon.
This means the whole of Devon and Cornwall can tackle homelessness and rough sleeping with nearly £1.5 million.