£9.6 million more to change homeless hostels into places of opportunity

Earlier this week, Housing Ministers Caroline Flint and Iain Wright announced an extra £9.6 million to help rough sleepers make a permanent move away from the streets.

The funding will support an additional 11 projects to improve and build new hostels and homelessness services across the country, which will help homeless people back into independent living by giving them new skills and training.

The new services will enable residents to learn practical skills such as catering or decorating, through to establishing new social enterprises.

It brings the total investment under the Government's Places of Change Programme to £80 million over the next three years which will deliver 80 schemes, transforming hostels and homelessness services.

Under Labour the number of people who are sleeping rough is down to less than 500 – a reduction of 73% - and we remain committed to sustaining these reductions and driving forward towards our goal of rough sleeping as close to zero as possible.