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<p>This 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>The Government changed the law and the Homelessness Reduction Act,
which is the most ambitious legislation in this area in decades, came into force this
April. The Homelessness Reduction Act requires Councils to provide early support for
those at risk of having nowhere left to go. The Government is also boosting access
to affordable housing, and making renting more secure.</p><p>We also recognise the
challenges that the cold weather poses for those who are sleeping rough. On 12 September
2019, we launched a second year of the Cold Weather Fund. This £10 million fund will
be available to all local authorities in England to provide a robust, local response
to support as many rough sleepers as possible off the streets during the winter period.
This is double the funding made available last winter. Local authorities will be able
to access this funding until March 2020</p><p><br>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. MHCLG is working with the DHSC to ensure that
rough sleepers have the health care they need, when the need it. This includes several
commitments that were made in the Rough Sleeping Strategy, such as:</p><ul><li>committing
£30m 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><li>working with Safeguarding Adult Boards
to ensure that Safeguarding Adult Reviews where appropriate. Lessons learned from
these reviews will inform improvements in local systems and services.</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>
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