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<p>The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one
should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we have made a manifesto commitment to
halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it altogether by 2027, placing a priority on
preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place.</p><p>Last summer we
published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious
£100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the
structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed
over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review
period.</p><p>Ahead of the Rough Sleeping Strategy we announced a new Rough Sleeping
Initiative in order to have an immediate impact on reducing the levels of rough sleeping.</p><p>The
measures within the initiative include:</p><ul><li><p>a cross-government, multi-disciplinary
new Rough Sleeping Team;</p></li><li><p>a £30 million fund for 2018-19 for local authorities
with high number of people sleeping rough;</p></li><li><p>a further £45 million fund
for 2019-20 to help tackle rough sleeping.</p></li></ul><p>In its first year, our
Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) provided over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff.
This year we have expanded the RSI with investment of £46 million for 246 areas –
providing funding for an estimated 2,600 bed spaces and 750 staff.</p><p>In April
2018 the Homelessness Reduction Act, the most ambitious legislative reform on this
issue in decades, came into force. The Act transforms the culture of homelessness
service delivery. It placed new duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable
steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness.</p><p> </p>
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