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Liverpool gets a ₤1 million
Flexible Homelessness Support Grant
LIVERPOOL City Council is to spend an
additional ₤1 million tackling homelessness over the next 2 years.
The funding of ₤948,000 in the form of the Flexible Homelessness Support Grant
from the Government is designed to help prevent people from ending up in a
position where they are at risk of losing the roof over their head.
A report to the Council's Cabinet, on Friday, 4 August 2017, is recommending using the
money to increase the number of staff in the Housing Options Service which helps
people find new accommodation, and providing more outreach support for
vulnerable people.
It is in addition to the council's existing budget of ₤10.8 million for
homelessness which is spent on a range of services including temporary
accommodation and housing as well as help for rough sleepers and people with
complex needs.
Councillor Paul Brant, Cabinet member for health and adult social care, said:-
"We have taken great care to protect homelessness services from reductions
in funding despite the huge cuts that we have faced in recent years, but it is a
struggle due to welfare reforms and austerity which have left many more people
vulnerable. We will be using this additional funding to prevent people from
becoming homeless rather than picking up the pieces when somebody has lost their
home and I would like to thank our staff who have worked hard to secure this
valuable extra money."
Councillor Frank Hont, Cabinet member for housing, added:- "The most
visible sign of homelessness is rough sleeping but this is just one aspect of
homelessness and a small minority of the 6,000 households that we help every
year. The vast majority of people on the streets have turned down the offer of
temporary accommodation, usually due to complex needs such as substance misuse
or mental health issues. In addition, we know there are also professional
beggars who come to Liverpool to con shoppers and workers out of their hard
earned money by pretending to be homeless. This is a hugely complex issue
but one we are resolutely focused on tackling, whether it is identifying and
helping those who are at risk, working with partners such as the Whitechapel
Centre to help rough sleepers into new accommodation or encouraging people to
contact us through the No Second Night Out programme if they see someone
sleeping on the streets."
The grant comes in two tranches, with ₤448,800 in 2017/18 and ₤499,634 in
2018/19.
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