Today, Preet Kaur Gill, the MP for Birmingham, Edgbaston, has welcomed the announcement of £17.7 million to help tackle homelessness in Birmingham, as part of a government announcement of nearly £1 billion for England next year. The package includes £5 million for pilots to reduce emergency accommodation in areas with the highest use of B&Bs, including Birmingham.
The allocations for Birmingham announced today include almost £14 million for the core Homeless Prevention Grant, over £1 million for drug and alcohol treatment, and £360,000 to run emergency accommodation reduction pilots, to reduce the placements of families in expensive and unsuitable B&Bs.
Local MP Gill has campaigned on housing and homelessness since she was elected in 2017. Since 2017, MP Gill has helped hundreds of homeless constituents with their housing situation, as well as supporting local food banks, baby banks, mobile kitchens and food collections to support homeless families and rough sleepers in her constituency. Constituents she has been supporting include a mum and three children confined to a single hotel room.
The homelessness crisis in Birmingham has spiralled over the last 14 years. In Birmingham, 10.9 households per 1,000 are living in temporary accommodation, significantly above the English average excluding London of 2.43. Across the West Midlands, more than 12,000 children face spending Christmas without a regular home.
Under the Tories, the use of temporary accommodation has reached record levels. In the 50 authorities with the highest levels of temporary accommodation in England, nearly 14,000 households have been in temporary accommodation for more than five years, according to an FOI request. In Birmingham, one household has been in stop-gap housing since at least 2011.
Responding to the announcement, Preet Kaur Gill, Member of Parliament for Birmingham
“I've been campaigning on homelessness since I was elected in 2017. Under the Conservatives, we have seen homelessness in England spiral into one of the worst crises in the developed world.
“This announcement of more than £17m of funding for Birmingham, including a pilot to end B&B use, will be game changing for our city, alongside the Government's plan to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament.
“The funding announced today will change the lives of many families in my constituency who are currently stuck in cramped, emergency accommodation with no access to kitchens or utilities of their own. This will be a huge step forwards for Birmingham.”
Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, said:
"This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness. It's time to turn the tide.
"This historic funding comes alongside our work developing a cross-government strategy back on track to end homelessness, pulling every lever of the state, to ensure that we deliver not just sticking plasters but a long-term plan."
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