Nottingham City Council has welcomed an extra £2.5 million from the Government to support people facing homelessness.
The new funding, announced on World Homeless Day, is part of £84 million allocated for councils across the country by the Government to help prevent homelessness and support families this winter.
The Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant which Nottingham receives has increased from £2.9 million to £5.2 million. In addition, the city will get an extra £127,434 in Homelessness Prevention Grant to provide additional support for children experiencing homelessness.
The funding will be used to support plans being put in place in advance of the coming winter. This includes reducing and preventing rough sleeping by stabilising current numbers, providing tailored support for individuals facing the most complex challenges, and promoting long-term recovery.
Prevention services will be increased to support people into accommodation and ensure fewer sleep rough for the first time before accessing services.
Cllr Jay Hayes, the Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Planning said: “This new funding from Government is very welcome and much needed, recognising the major challenges cities like Nottingham face with rough sleeping and homelessness.
“People living rough on the streets and families with children facing homelessness are not issues that as a city and a country we should accept.
“We already have a comprehensive plan in place with local partner organisations and charities to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping in the first place but also to provide support and accommodation for people who sadly find themselves in this situation.
“As well as additional support for rough sleeping, the extra funding will mean we can improve the experiences of families and children living in temporary accommodation and to make a tangible impact on their quality of life as we continue to work towards ending the blight on society that homelessness represents.”
Specific plans around rough sleeping include:
- supporting the delivery of the Voluntary, Faith, Community Sector run Night Shelter
- a dedicated resource to actively respond to city centre rough sleeping and anti social behaviour
- introducing specialist roles to ensure access to assessment and additional private rented housing solutions as well as deliver oversight to access and throughput in commissioned supported accommodation for single homeless individuals
- wellbeing workers to assist with supporting individuals with complex needs that may be limiting opportunities to move into independent living
For families and children, a range of options are being considered including:
- co-ordination of support for families. Ensuring that families are linking into local services that can meet their needs
- mental health and wellbeing support – access to counselling, play therapy and specialist health services
- digital equipment and connectivity such as laptops and internet connectivity to enable online learning, homework, connectivity with peers, gaming etc
- support with travel expenses to help children to and from school whilst living in temporary accommodation