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<p>The government is committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022, before ending it
altogether and has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough
sleeping over the spending review period to April 2020.</p><p>In the recent Spending
Round we announced £422 million funding for homelessness in 2020/21, an increase of
£54 million.</p><p>Whilst we recognise that suitable housing is a key part of the
solution, health services have a significant role to play, alongside other public
services. The Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government is working with
the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to ensure that rough sleepers have
the health care they need, when the need it. These commitments include:<br></p><ul><li>working
with Safeguarding Adult Boards to ensure that Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SAR) happen
where appropriate. Lessons learned from these reviews will inform improvements in
local systems and services.</li><li>the DHSC has commissioned King’s College London
to conduct a thematic review of the national SAR library on rough sleeping cases.
Findings have recently been published and are being disseminated</li></ul><ul><li>the
DHSC has funded the Local Government Association (LGA) to deliver four national events
in autumn 2019/20 to look at safeguarding and homelessness.</li><li>committing £30
million for mental health services from NHS England for rough sleeping over the next
five years</li><li>providing up to £2 million in health funding to test models of
community-based provision designed to enable access to health and support services
for people who are sleeping rough.</li></ul><p>Professor Dame Carol Black has been
appointed to carry out a major review of drug misuse. The review, which is building
on existing government strategies to combat drugs, serious violence and serious and
organised crime, is examining the harms that drugs cause and the best ways to prevent
drug-taking.</p><p> </p>
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