Andy Burnham to give homeless policy £432million - despite warnings previous attempts have failed
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Andy Burnham will today double the funding for tackling homelessness, despite warnings his previous attempts to end the problem have failed.
The Prime Minister will confirm a further £432million in cash as he hosts a 'rough sleeping summit' in Downing Street aimed at delivering on his pledge to offer a 'safe route off the streets' by Christmas.
Ending homelessness was the new PM's first pledge in office. But critics have pointed to his mixed record on the issue as mayor of Greater Manchester.
In 2017, Mr Burnham pledged to end rough sleeping in the region by 2020. But after initial falls, homeless numbers began to rise again during his tenure in the job.
A study by the Centre for Social Justice this year found that homelessness is increasingly fuelled by immigration, with foreign nationals accounting for half of those sleeping rough in London.
Pictures yesterday appeared to show a group of Eastern Europeans sleeping rough on Oxford Street, the day before the capital's premier shopping destination is pedestrianised as part of efforts to rejuvenate the area.
Homeless people have taken to sleeping rough in doorways and under arches along London's Oxford Street
Mr Burnham last night said 'every part of society' has a duty to tackle rough sleeping.
'Rough sleeping isn't a fact of life. It's a thing governments either choose to accept or don't,' he said.
'Well, I don't accept it. That's why we're doubling funding so that people aren't just offered a safe route off the streets this winter but have that same support right through the rest of this Parliament too.'
But shadow communities secretary Katie Lam accused the PM of squandering taxpayers' money on 'empty promises'.
'Burnham is throwing another £432 million at a problem he failed to solve in Greater Manchester,' she said. 'Under Labour, rough sleeping has hit record highs - yet their answer is always more taxpayers' money and more empty promises.'
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