Recommendation 14

In addition, the Department is providing around £700 million for rough sleeping and homelessness in 2020–21, with the majority of this funding distributed through local authorities.49 Before the pandemic, the Department had planned to spend £495 million in 2020–21, as announced in previous spending rounds and the 2020 Budget.50 The Department told us that, as a result of the crisis, it had increased the funding available with £225 million of new money. This is a combination of money brought forward to 2020–21 that it had planned to spend in future years, and additional funding provided as part of its Next Steps Accommodation Programme.51 The Department has confirmed that it will make £750 million available to Local Authorities for tackling homelessness in 2021–22.52