EXTRA funding to help tackle homelessness and rough sleeping has been welcomed by a Lichfield councillor.
Cllr Colin Ball said that an additional 22% would take the total allocated to Lichfield District Council up to £776,460 for 2025-26.
The Labour representative for Curborough ward added the Government’s investment would help bring down figures showing that nearly 123,000 households are living in temporary accommodation across the country.
He said:
“People voted for a Labour Government because this country needs to change – and that’s what this Government is delivering.
“The level of homelessness in this country is a disgrace, and it high time we had a government determined to stamp it out.
“This funding will help Lichfield District Council support families at risk of homelessness, and give us extra resources to prevent rough sleeping too.
“On top of this, Labour is banning no fault evictions and we are building 1.5m homes too. That’s a real plan to deliver change right here across Lichfield district.
“Turning this country around will take time, but announcements like this funding are a clear sign that the work of change has well and truly begun.”
Lichfield District Council has recently unveiled a plan to spend £2.1million on reducing rough sleeping and homelessness by tackling the ongoing need for emergency housing.
Cllr Ball said he hoped the new funding boost from the government would help efforts to address the long-term issue.
“Since I was first elected in 2018, I have been pushing Lichfield District Council to do more to tackle homelessness and increase genuinely affordable housing for rent across our district.
“This funding and the commitment of the Government to end no fault evictions and deliver more genuinely affordable homes will help the council do this.”
Lichfield is rapidly becoming known as the soft touch amongst those that come in daily (one even comes in by car would you believe – taking his sleeping bag and paraphernalia out from it’s boot..) Elderly hand over money constantly. We know those that are genuinely homeless and hopefully help will be taken by them but the system needs a complete overhaul – adding more money in does not solve anything long-term.