Andy Burnham has made it clear that a primary mission of his government is to address the most visible elements of a broken housing system: rough sleeping. The government has launched a new Rough Sleeping Programme to reflect this intention, along with guidance for the sector.
This mission has been backed up by a £442 million package to provide accommodation and support, a pledge to have everybody off the streets by Christmas, and the emphasis that this cannot be achieved alone and will require local leadership, with the housing and homelessness sectors, businesses and civil society all working together. The Prime Minister has also shown his personal commitment to solving this problem by donating 15% of his Prime Minister’s salary to homelessness charities, whilst 15% of his Member of Parliament salary for Makerfield is pledged to support local causes.
