Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
Increased funding and systemic changes aim to boost local authority homelessness prevention.
Conclusion
MHCLG explained that a £230 million increase in allocations for homelessness in the autumn 2024 budget, including uplifts in the Homelessness Prevention Grant, and an improved wider local government finance settlement, should help local authorities to do more preventive work. It also summarised a number of other actions that might give local authorities the breathing space to do this, including: reducing the number of households presenting as homeless in the first place, which would depend on a systemic set of changes including addressing the scarcity of housing; reducing the cost of temporary accommodation that local authorities procure; and providing multi-year funding settlements, which would enable local authorities to plan better and potentially acquire temporary accommodation more cheaply.15 10 Q 76 11 Qq 22, 27 12 TH0002 13 Q 26 14 Q 78 15 Qq 24, 38, 78-80 11 The use of B&Bs as temporary accommodation
Government response summary AI-generated
The government agrees and committed to sending its plans by April 2025 for incentivising local authorities to improve their homelessness prevention duties.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2025 1.2 The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) wrote to the Committee alongside this Treasury Minute with its plans for incentivising local authorities to improve their homelessness prevention duties.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗