Extra £24,000 for council to support rough sleepers

Lichfield District Council is one of 274 authorities that has successfully bid for Next Steps Accommodation funding from the government.

The programme helps with the next stage of the Covid-19 rough sleeping response, to make sure no one is sleeping on the streets during the coronavirus outbreak.

The council was provided with the cash so it could continue to keep rough sleepers across the district in emergency accommodation and to ensure it had the appropriate resources over the winter months.

The money will be spent in three areas. The first is on the housing costs rough sleepers who were placed in emergency accommodation when the country went into lockdown.

The money will also be used for booking accommodation for anyone who would normally have used the Churches Together emergency night shelter, which will not be running this winter due to concerns over Covid-19.

Finally, a proportion of the money will help former rough sleepers to maintain their accommodation and find employment.

This will be overseen by Spring Housing Association, which provides an outreach service for homeless people with complex needs in the district on behalf of the council.

Councillor Angela Lax, cabinet member responsible for housing, said: “We’re delighted to have been awarded this funding, which will help us to make sure we can house anyone who has been, or is at risk of, rough sleeping on local streets.

“I am also pleased that, with the help of the team at Spring Housing, we have further funding to support people who have been street homeless to help them rebuild their lives.”

For more information about the district council’s services for rough sleepers and the work it does to prevent homelessness, visit lichfielddc.gov.uk/homelessness