Cautious welcome for £48m homelessness funding

However, council bosses have warned this funding might not cover the costs they face because it is “impossible” to predict how many people will require support.

London councils alone have predicted the new duties could cost them millions.

The bill is currently going through parliament. Under the bill councils will be required to help all eligible people – whether they are single or a family – for 56 days before they are threatened with homelessness. Those who are already homeless will get support for a further 56 days to help them find accommodation.

In a statement to parliament this afternoon Marcus Jones, the minister with responsibility for homelessness, said the government has worked with councils and the Local Government Association to test the methodology behind the estimated costs and he added he will work with them to decide how the funding is distributed between councils which will “reflect differing need in different authorities”.

He will also “consider the case” for making a “small amount” of further funding available for councils in “high pressure areas”.

Lord Gary Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA), called on the government to review the bill’s impact two years after it is implemented to ensure councils are “fully equipped and funded” to deliver the extra duties.

He said he was pleased the government has committed to fully fund the new duties but councils have concerns that the initial costings “will inevitably be based on assumptions that are difficult to predict”.

He said it is “impossible” to know how many people will come forward to make use of the new duties or what the impact of the bill will be on different groups of people over time. He said it was therefore difficult to predict how much funding councils will need.

The LGA has warned homeless placements in temporary accommodation have risen by 40% in the last four years and homelessness services face a funding gap of £192m by the end of the decade.