New hubs will ensure those on the streets have access to professional help and guidance to start their recovery.

Thousands of vulnerable people will be able to get the specialist support they need to recover from life on the streets through the creation of new rough sleeping centres, announced today by Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP.

As part of the government’s £100 million Rough Sleeping Strategy – 11 Somewhere Safe to Stay centres will be set up across the country. These will help provide immediate shelter and rapid assessment for those sleeping rough or at risk of doing so as well as specialist support to address those with complex needs such as mental health problems and substance misuse.

This builds on the first year of the Rough Sleeping Initiative, launched in March, which is providing £64 million to over 80 councils over the next 2 years to support rough sleepers in their area.

This funding is already being put to good use by creating 1,750 new bed spaces, as well as an additional 500 outreach workers, many of whom are already working tirelessly to support people off the streets and into recovery.

The new hubs – backed by up to £4.8 million government funding – will be up and running by spring 2019, with a further 4 centres to follow next year.

Today’s announcement follows the publication of the government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy delivery plan earlier this month which set out targets and deadlines for 61 strategy commitments.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

No one should ever have to face a night on the streets, and as a government we are taking steps to ensure people are never faced with this as their only option.

These are vulnerable people, who may be dealing with complex mental health problems or addictions and require specialist help to tackle these issues and turn their lives around.

That’s why these vital new hubs will ensure those on the streets have access to professional help and guidance to start their recovery.

The first Somewhere Safe to Stay hubs will be launched in the following areas:

• Brighton & Hove
• Bristol
• Cheshire West & Chester
• Derby
• Gloucestershire (encompassing the 7 councils in the county)
• Lincoln
• Liverpool
• Medway
• Nottingham City
• Preston
• West London (encompassing 7 borough councils)

Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, said:

St Mungo’s is very pleased to be involved in the Somewhere Safe to Stay pilots. These will offer much needed emergency shelter where people in crisis can have their needs assessed urgently away from the extreme dangers of sleeping on the streets.

Crucially, these services will be targeted at those at immediate risk of sleeping rough. We will be encouraging a thorough evaluation of these pilots and want to see the learning used to roll out an approach to every area of the country that means no one who is homeless has to sleep rough before they receive the support they need.

Case Studies

Bristol

• The hub will be the only rapid assessment centre in the city centre and will have capacity for female or more vulnerable users.

• As a 24-hour service, it will allow for day programmes to be offered to those seeking support during the day.

• It will also be an integral part of the Bristol Shelter Programme, which includes a number of other charities and groups operating locally.

West London

• The hub will be located in Shepherd’s Bush, run in partnership with the charity St Mungo’s.

• It will complement and add to the existing No Second Night Out shelter by allowing referrals from a wider range of agencies and helping people receive support from services faster.

• It will provide separate spaces for women and the option of rooms for particularly vulnerable individuals.

Each centre will help those sleeping rough to be quickly assessed by specialist outreach workers, so they get the support they need to take the first steps towards recovery.

The hubs will play a vital role in identifying the issues that led to an individual sleeping on the streets in the first place and provide support to help them through things like a relationship breakdown, addiction or financial difficulties.

An estimated 6,000 people are expected to receive support through all 15 hubs by 2020.

Further information

The model was recommended by experts on the government’s Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel and is based on the London-based No Second Night Out Programme which consistently helps the capital’s rough sleepers away from the streets.

The hubs are part of government’s Rapid Rehousing Pathway. Further information on the delivery of the pathway will follow in due course.

No Second Night Out is a programme working across all London boroughs. The service prevented 800 people from sleeping rough on the streets again between April 2017 and March 2018.

New hubs will ensure those on the streets have access to professional help and guidance to start their recovery.

The Better Broadband Scheme offers a subsidised basic broadband connection to anyone unable to get download speeds of at least 2 mbps, and who will not benefit from the superfast broadband roll out within the next 12 months.

Since its launch in December 2015, the scheme has so far boosted the broadband speeds of more than 20,000 homes and businesses in some of the hardest to reach areas of the UK.

Households and businesses that are eligible to take advantage of the scheme have the installation and hardware costs of their connection subsidised to ensure their first year costs are no more than £400.

The subsidy is used to fund a variety of technology solutions including – satellite, 4G and fixed wireless.

The closing date for applications has now been extended until 31 December 2019.

Margot James, Minister for Digital, said:

Improving broadband services for people struggling with poor connections is a top priority for the government – we want everyone to benefit from the digital revolution.

While we’ve helped make superfast speeds a reality for 19 out of 20 UK premises and are reaching thousands more each week, this scheme offers immediate assistance to those most in need.

The Government’s superfast broadband rollout continues as part of its Industrial Strategy to ensure all homes and businesses in Britain have access to high speed broadband by 2020.

And it has also introduced the Universal Service Obligation which will give everyone the legal right to request a connection to high speed broadband. Eligible consumers will be able to request a connection under the Universal Service Obligation by the end of 2019.

Improvements to the independence and the quality of audits are the focus of the CMA’s market study update.