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<p>On 17 September MHCLG announced that £91.5 million had been allocated to 274 councils
in England for the short-term funding aspect of the Next Steps Accommodation Programme,
to help vulnerable people housed during the pandemic, and throughout the winter period.</p><p>On
13 October, we announced a further £10 million Cold Weather Fund for local areas to
bring forward self-contained and COVID secure accommodation this winter, and £2 million
funding for the faith, communities and voluntary sector to make available self-contained
and COVID secure accommodation. Alongside this, comprehensive guidance to the sector,
produced with input from Public Health England, Housing Justice and Homeless Link,
has been published to help them open shelters more safely in situations where this
decision needs to be taken, as a last resort and where not doing so would endanger
lives.</p><p>This is on top of Government’s commitment to support up to 6,000 rough
sleepers into longer term accommodation, with 3,300 units of this accommodation becoming
available in 2020/2021. Homes England, in partnership with MHCLG, have pledged to
work hand-in-hand with leading Housing Associations and local authorities to deliver
this.</p><p>Taken together, the overall amount Government is spending on rough sleeping
and homelessness this year is over £700 million.</p>
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