Speeches by Ali.

“Yes, absolutely. Local authorities should not be hanging around for changes. There is existing provision and they need to follow it. If there are gaps, I am sure that this Committee will make sure that the inter-ministerial group takes those points on board. I am very happy to feed that in to the Deputy Prime Minister …”

“We inherited a really challenging set of circumstances post election and the Chancellor announced a substantial increase in the funding that my Department received on the homelessness agenda, with an additional £233 million bringing the total to £1 billion. As you know, other funding has also been made available across…”

“I do not think there is more to add beyond that we have a difficult inheritance. There is a £22 billion black hole that the Chancellor and this Government have had to address. Public services are under massive pressure. We have invested some £25 billion in the healthcare system that was underfunded. Of course, interven…”

“On your point about LHA and other policies, this is an internal government inter-departmental group that will publish a strategy. That is the format. In terms of discussions we will have with Ministers across Government, that is why it is really important that DWP, Treasury and other Ministers are involved. Just to rea…”

“The challenges have been exacerbated by long-term issues, going back a decade or more. We are not going to be able to resolve these issues immediately, not least because there is a massive challenge around the financial environment that we have inherited. That said, what is really encouraging is that additional funding…”

“The funding that we have allocated is £283.2 million for three of our rough sleeping grants for 2025-26. Before Christmas, we announced £10 million for winter pressures and yesterday I announced a further £20 million to support local authorities for rough sleeping winter pressures. We recognise that this is a really ch…”

“We published the evaluation of the Changing Futures pilot before Christmas and the results were really encouraging. One of the examples, which I often share, is of someone who has received support from different agencies over a period of, I think, 13 to 15 years, thousands of interventions, costing something in the ord…”

“You are alluding to the challenge some authorities are facing. London Councils has contacted me and I will be meeting with the chair and deputy chair of London Councils, Councillor Holland and Councillor Williams. It is really crucial that we do both. We have to focus on prevention. It picks up on the wider points we m…”

“Intentional homelessness, did you say?”

“They have particular duties that they need to abide by. Are you referring to stringent or overzealous cases?”

“Just to reassure you, where we have seen an issue such as care leavers, for instance, where intentionality has been used in a detrimental way, the state, as a corporate parent, has a duty of care to them. We have worked with the Department for Education and supported it on that amendment. That is a good example of wher…”

“We have all heard stories like that. That is more from my experience as a constituency MP. We hear stories of local council officials, again, being stuck between a rock and a hard place. We want to make sure that there is staff support. For instance, in the way that funding is allocated, we have to provide flexibility …”

“The evaluation that was published in October found that the large majority of Housing First clients were in long-term accommodation a year after entering the programme and that tenancies were sustainable for 80% to 90%. That is really powerful evidence. I am really pleased about that. It shows that there is good value …”

“Penny might want to come back to it, but I will just say that local authorities now have much more flexibility in terms of funding. We hope that they will be able to use that flexibility in a way they see fit, to pick up on your point.”

“Greater Manchester, Liverpool and west midlands are the areas with the Housing First pilots. It is really valuable to have those pilots and to make sure that there is learning. On the winter pressures funding we did, the Department held a webinar with 1,000 attendees over a couple of sessions. There is a lot of interes…”

“The cost of private accommodation is much higher than social housing. The Deputy Prime Minister is determined to make sure that we have an increase in social and affordable housing as we focus our attention on the housebuilding programme. It goes back to the point about affordability and supply, as well as the Renters …”

“There is the Renters Reform Bill and the ending of section 21. We know from the evidence that it is well over 20,000 people who end up homeless because of that particular provision, which is going to be ended. Again, we are taking action to prevent particular policies having unintended consequences or adverse effects. …”

“You are absolutely right. That is why the work we do nationally, the strategy and the work we are doing in the inter-ministerial taskforce is really key, in terms of having those relevant Departments and Ministers in the inter‑departmental group. On the funding side, there has been an investment from the Departm…”

“Yes. It should be published imminently.”

“As I mentioned at the beginning, we started to work immediately, straight after the election, with the Home Office to provide some transition time once status is determined. If people have refugee status, there is the spectre of this short period of time. That has been extended. That is really important, in order to he…”