St Mungo’s has submitted a written representation to the Treasury ahead of the Budget on the 3rd of March. This submission is focused on welfare and employment policy changes that would reduce the number of people at risk of homelessness as a result of the pandemic, and help ensure people already experiencing homelessness can access the support they need during these unprecedented times.
You can read the full submission document here.
In addition, St Mungo’s joined up with other homelessness and poverty focused organisations to raise concerns about a plan to remove the ‘Visible Lines’ allocations from the core settlement for local authorities. These include current allocations lines for homelessness prevention and local welfare assistance. These Visible Lines allocations are notional only, and are not ring-fenced allocations, and therefore local authorities are not beholden to them. However, from our experiences working with local authorities, the Visible Lines help to set an indication from national government on where national funding is expected to be spent. We fear that removing them will reduce clarity about funding, and may even lead to reduced funding for homelessness services.