UK's Burnham vows to end rough sleeping

Homeless people in England will not have to sleep rough this winter, according to United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has unveiled a 442-million-pound ($601-million) initiative to put a roof over everyone's head.

The effort, which will not extend to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland because of their devolved governments, mirrors a drive Burnham oversaw while mayor of Manchester, and follows him pledging to end rough sleeping as soon as he took over as prime minister on July 20.

As he unveiled the initiative, he urged everyone to pull together, in the way people went the extra mile during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the UK found emergency accommodation for 37,000 rough sleepers.

"We did it in the pandemic. We can do it again," he said. "But it needs all of us. Government will put the money in. But I'm asking leaders in communities and sectors across society to play their part locally too."

He said all of England's homeless people will be out of the cold by the Dec 25 Christmas holiday.

Burnham said homeless people will not only be offered emergency accommodation but free physical health checks and treatment, access to psychiatric care, and help with drug and alcohol addiction.

Around 340 million pounds of the 442 million pounds had been announced previously through other initiatives, but Burnham said there will be 102 million pounds of new money, which he said was "fully funded" and will come from the budget of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

While much of the accommodation will be temporary, Burnham said the government will access more than 1,000 permanent homes for homeless people during the next three years.

He will also chair a meeting this fall of leaders from the business, finance, charities, and faith sectors to talk about homelessness.

The UK's main opposition party, the Conservative Party, criticized the initiative, saying Burnham failed to end rough sleeping while mayor of Manchester and will similarly fail to end it across England.

The BBC quoted James Cleverly, the Conservative Party's spokesman on housing issues, as saying: "As with many of (the prime minister's) other commitments, there is very little detail on how this one will be paid for."

Official figures show almost 5,000 people were sleeping rough in England each night last fall, which was a 96 percent increase on the total from five years earlier. Charities say tens of thousands of others were sleeping in temporary accommodation.

Angela Rayner, the UK's secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, told the LBC radio station the task was significant, but one she welcomes, saying "if you put a focus on this, you can really drive the change you want to see".

earle@mail.chinadailyuk.com