Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing people sleeping rough

Select Committee

Public Accounts Committee HC 934 17 March 2021

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 21 items (7 recs)

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Government Response (AI assessment · 21 of 21 classified)

Accepted 7

Accepted in Part 3

Not Addressed 2

Rejected 9

Government response

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-ninth report from Session 2019-21 · published 31 Aug 2021

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Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results

4 Recommendation Accepted in Part

The Department has provided a number of different funding streams to local authorities to cover...

Recommendation

The Department has provided a number of different funding streams to local authorities to cover the pandemic response for people sleeping rough, but many are short-term and reactive, and the Department does not have a cohesive long- term funding plan … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation to reassess funding and streamline streams, committing to combine two homelessness grants into one for 2022, while deferring decisions on multi-year funding certainty to the 2021 Spending Review. The department also commits to using evaluation tools to improve value for money assessments.

HM Treasury

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9 Conclusion Accepted in Part

In our evidence session the Department was unable to define exactly what it meant by...

Conclusion

In our evidence session the Department was unable to define exactly what it meant by the commitment “to end” rough sleeping; nor was it able to state clearly whether it was on track to meet this target, or how it … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government disagrees with the committee's criticism but states it will consider a definition for ending rough sleeping, including how the goal will be measured and evaluated.

HM Treasury

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15 Conclusion Accepted in Part

Since October 2020, the Department has made a series of smaller funding commitments for the...

Conclusion

Since October 2020, the Department has made a series of smaller funding commitments for the winter months, including a £10 million Cold Weather Fund, £12 million Protect Programme and £10 million in January 2021 for extra COVID protection for people … Read more Since October 2020, the Department has made a series of smaller funding commitments for the winter months, including a £10 million Cold Weather Fund, £12 million Protect Programme and £10 million in January 2021 for extra COVID protection for people sleeping rough.53 The Department told us that in its consideration local authorities had adequate funding to protect people sleeping rough over the winter months, but was keeping this under review.54 We heard from local authorities and voluntary organisations that, while this money would address immediate priorities, the short- term nature of the funding plus the bureaucracy and process involved in applying for grants, meant it was difficult for organisations to plan the support they could offer with any certainty.55 Baroness Casey also noted that announcing larger sums over a strategic period of time was much easier for the voluntary sector than “£10 million here and £10 million there”.56 The Department recognised that providing more certainty of funding over a longer time scale was important, as it understood the importance of continuity and stability for the voluntary sector. It asserted it was doing the best it could within current constraints, pointing to the Rough Sleeping Initiative funding, which it has confirmed 46 Q 21. 47 Q 21. 48 C&AG’s Report, para 1.13. 49 Qq 4, 21. 50 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2020-documents/spending-review-2020 51 Q 24. 52 Q 5. 53 C&AG’s Report, Figure 5. 54 Q 1. 55 Qq 5, 25. 56 Q 18. COVID-19: housing people sleeping rough 13 will not reduce next year. It told us that announcements covering funding over a longer time-scale would be made in the Spending Review next year.57 The Department also considered that providing the majority of its funding through local authorities (i.e. rather than directly to voluntary groups) remained the best approach, as it enables councils to tailor their approach to tackling rough sleeping to best fit the needs of the local ar Show less

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the implied recommendation to streamline funding, committing to combine two homelessness grants into one for 2022 and stating longer-term funding decisions will be made in the 2021 Spending Review.

HM Treasury

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