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<p>This Department has policy responsibility for setting the national framework for
housing, including homelessness and rough sleeping in England.</p><p>The Government
is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping. No one should ever have
to sleep rough. That is why 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. Measures within the initiative include:</p><ul><li>a
cross-government, multi-disciplinary new Rough Sleeping Team;</li><li>a £30 million
fund for 2018-19 for local authorities with high number of people sleeping rough,
providing over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff;</li><li>a further £46 million fund
for 2019-20 to help tackle rough sleeping, providing an estimated 2,600 bed spaces
and 750 staff;</li><li>£100,000 funding to support frontline Rough Sleeping staff
across the country and equipping them with the right skills and knowledge to work
with vulnerable rough sleepers.</li></ul><p>In April 2018 the Homelessness Reduction
Act, the most ambitious legislative reform 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 <br> and relieve a person’s
homelessness.</p><p>In 2018/19 the West Midlands received £25 million to support the
delivery of homelessness services. This includes £1.4 million to pilot the Housing
First approach with their most entrenched rough sleepers; £90.909 to boost the support
offer for vulnerable veterans who are, or at risk of becoming homeless; £1.8 million
as part of the Rough Sleeping Initiative; and £1.4 million in new burdens funding
to implement the Homelessness Reduction Act.</p>
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