Stuart Anderson MP has welcomed extra funding to tackle rough sleeping and support local people into-long term accommodation. The West Midlands Combined has been allocated £639,292 and the City of Wolverhampton Council has been allocated £512,400 – up by over a quarter from £390,000 received last year. It is part of the Government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative, which has been extended to deliver on the commitment to ensure that everyone who wants it has safe and secure accommodation to live in.
As a local MP, Stuart has been working hard to ensure that no one needs to sleep rough and that those in that position are swiftly supported. In Parliament, he has championed the work of local charities such as the Good Shepherd. Last year, he raised over £500 by taking part in the Molineux Sleepout for the Good Shepherd and the Wolverhampton Wanderers Foundation.
Stuart has welcomed the new funding to deliver ongoing support to those who need it and a route into long-term accommodation. It will also fund extra resource to continue the work set up to protect people sleeping rough from COVID- 19. This builds on previous funding, which has seen the City of Wolverhampton Council receive £198,000 from the Next Steps Accommodation Programme last September. In recent months, the City of Wolverhampton Council has also received £650,000 to provide victims of domestic abuse and their children with safe accommodation.
The Government’s plan has seen rough sleeping reduced by more than a third. By the end of January, the Rough Sleeping Initiative had supported over 37,000 people since the outbreak of COVID-19, with over 11,000 people currently being supported in emergency accommodation and over 26,000 already moved into settled and supported accommodation.
Stuart Anderson MP: “Everyone deserves a place that they can call their own. The Government’s plan has already seen rough sleeping reduced by more than a third, yet there is still much to do. The Rough Sleeping Initiative is a key part of our mission to end rough sleeping for good and to provide the support that is needed. While good progress has been made, I am determined to ensure that no one needs to sleep rough and that those in that position are swiftly offered the help that they need.”