Sadiq Khan slams 'beyond shameful' scale of homelessness in London

Rough sleeping in London has doubled over the last five years
Ian West/PA
Pippa Crerar2 March 2017

Sadiq Khan today said the scale of rough sleeping in London was “beyond shameful” as he announced a £4.2 million funding boost to help the most vulnerable homeless.

The package includes a £2 million social impact bond which along with £1 million from City Hall will target rough sleepers with mental health issues and drug and alcohol problems

Social investors make a return on their money if the interventions are successful. As a result of a previous bond 78 per cent of those helped were no longer sleeping rough.

The Mayor unveiled plans for a £1.8 million ‘safe connections’ project which would find a bed for people who have slept rough at least twice in the last three months.

There will also be £340,000 for a London-wide ‘hostels clearing house’ pilot to help those willing to move into a hostel and fill empty beds across the capital.

Sadiq Khan said the scale of homelessness was "beyond shameful"

Rough sleeping in London has doubled over the last five years with 8,096 people seen on the streets in 2015/6, compared with 3,975 in 2010/11.

Around three in four entrenched homeless had either a mental health issue or alcohol and drug problems.

Mr Khan, who secured Department for Communities funding, said: “It is unacceptable that for years some of London’s most vulnerable people have been failed by the system.

“Rough sleepers are at serious risk every night they spend on the streets and this funding will help reduce the dangers they face and improve their quality of life.

“Government at all levels needs to work with the capital’s fantastic charities, not only to support those who find themselves sleeping on the streets, but also to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.”

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