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<p>We are implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act, which commences in April 2018.
The Act significantly reforms England’s homelessness legislation, ensuring that more
people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the
first place.</p><p>The law is clear that households with dependent children should
only be accommodated in B&B in an emergency and then for no longer than 6 weeks.</p><p>Our
new Homelessness Advice and Support Team, drawn from local authorities and the homelessness
sector, are providing targeted challenge and support to help Councils improve their
practice and performance – including the use of B&B accommodation for families.</p><p>The
Government remains committed to combating homelessness and rough sleeping. To achieve
this, we have set up a Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce that will
focus on prevention and affordable housing. We have allocated over £1 billion over
the course of the spending review to tackle and reduce homelessness. This includes
£315 million Homelessness Prevention funding and a Flexible Homelessness Support Grant
which local authorities can use more strategically to prevent homelessness from happening
in the first place. This amounts to £402 million over the two years from 2017/18,
with further funding to be announced for 2019/20.</p>
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