David Simmonds CBE MP - Rough Sleeping Initiative

I am delighted that funding to tackle rough sleeping will increase to £2,186,647 in Hillingdon, recognising the acute impact of Heathrow Airport on the number of rough sleepers in the Borough, and to £176,500 in Harrow this year.

The Government have announced that councils will receive a share of an additional £112 million through the Rough Sleeping Initiative to help get people off the streets and in to safe and secure accommodation.

An additional £236 million will also fund ‘move on’ accommodation for up to 6,000 rough sleepers, ensuring no one has to sleep on the streets at night.

This Conservative Government has shown it is absolutely determined to end rough sleeping and I was especially pleased to see the Government bring forward its target of achieving this from 2027 to 2024 at the last election, meeting our moral obligation to support the most vulnerable in society.

The latest figures show that rough sleeping across England fell by 9 per cent last year – the second annual fall in a row, and by 12 per cent in local authority areas where the Rough Sleeping Initiative is active. The scheme is a central pillar of the Government’s strategy to end rough sleeping in this Parliament.  

However, there is still a lot more we can do, and I’ll be working with both Hillingdon and Harrow Council’s and local organisations to ensure the additional funds are spent locally in the most effective way, so that no one in our area has to sleep out in the cold this winter.