Julian House has today warned the services it operates for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness face a perilous funding cliff edge at the end of the financial year, threatening to increase homelessness across the South-West of England.
Julian House supports vulnerable and at-risk individuals across the South West. So far in 2024, Julian House supported 134 people in Dorset who were homeless or rough sleeping to recover and begin to rebuild their lives.
The charity receives a large share of its funding from various councils through central Government grants. This funding was announced by the previous Government in the 2021 spending review and comes to an end at the end of the financial year. Nationally, it equates to almost £1bn of funding leaving the homelessness system.
If funding isn’t reviewed, Julian House’s support services in the South West will close. Without the central government grants to enable local commissioning, vital outreach and supported accommodation will be lost, leaving many vulnerable people with nowhere to go.
Julian House is joining the charity Homeless Link, the membership body for frontline homelessness services in England, in calling for the Chancellor to extend the current funding package until 2025/26, including additional funding to recognise the prolonged period of high inflation service providers had to operate in, in the upcoming Autumn Budget on October 30th.
Beyond that, they’re calling for the Government to reviewing all homelessness spending, before implementing a new ring-fenced funding system from 2026/27.
Helen Bedser, Chief Executive of Julian House says, “Historic government commitments to ending rough sleeping have been admirable – but we are still nowhere near achieving it. In fact, rough sleeping is on the rise. Our team in Dorset is seeing more and more people forced into homelessness. We want to help, but we and other local charities need the funds to do so.”
The cliff-edge comes at a time when homelessness and rough sleeping are rising sharply. In 2023 rough sleeping in the South West increased by 18% (Rough sleeping snapshot in England: autumn 2023 – www.gov.uk).
Nationally, rough sleeping rose by 27% in 2023 and by 60% since 2021. Meanwhile, the most recent statutory homelessness statistics showed a record over 150,000 children are currently trapped living in often squalid conditions.
Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, said: “Everyone needs a safe place to live. Homelessness services do vital work in supporting people who often have complex needs in addressing the issues behind their homelessness and helping them build new lives.
“But services need certainty to allow them to plan for the future and continue to support people. Announcing a roll-over of homelessness funding at the upcoming Budget, with a commit to implement a new ring-fenced funding system down the line, will allow homelessness providers to breathe a little bit easier and provide the kind of consistency people experiencing homelessness need. “
About Homeless Link:
Homeless Link is the membership body for frontline homelessness services in England, representing over 800 organisations. It works to improve policy and practice within the homelessness sector whilst also campaigning for policy change at a national and regional level.
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Dorset Echo: Homelessness in Dorset on ‘knife-edge’ says Julian House | Dorset Echo
