“City MP backs £432M boost in bid to end rough sleeping”

A CITY MP joined the Prime Min­is­ter, mem­bers of the Cab­inet, char­it­ies and busi­nesses for the coun­try’s first-ever Rough Sleep­ing Sum­mit.

David Wil­li­ams, who rep­res­ents Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke, was at 10 Down­ing Street for Andy Burnham’s meet­ing.

It came as the Gov­ern­ment announced a fur­ther £432 mil­lion to extend sup­port for rough sleep­ers bey­ond March 2027 and through to the end of this Par­lia­ment.

Com­bined with the £442 mil­lion already com­mit­ted, total invest­ment in tack­ling rough sleep­ing now stands at £874 mil­lion.

The fund­ing will sup­port spe­cial­ist out­reach ser­vices, accom­mod­a­tion and long-term sup­port designed to help people move away from home­less­ness into a secure future. As part of the sum­mit, major busi­nesses, char­it­ies and hous­ing organ­isa­tions pledged prac­tical sup­port for the mis­sion.

Com­mit­ments include identi­fy­ing thou­sands of empty homes that can be brought back into use, cre­at­ing path­ways into employ­ment, expand­ing sup­por­ted accom­mod­a­tion, and provid­ing essen­tial ser­vices and sup­port for vul­ner­able people.

Latest fig­ures show Stoke-on-Trent’s rough sleeper out­reach team was help­ing 81 indi­vidu­als in the autumn of 2025 – a 16 per cent increase on the pre­vi­ous year.

Mr Wil­li­ams said: “Every­one deserves the secur­ity and dig­nity of hav­ing a safe place to call home.

“I worked for the YMCA for nearly two dec­ades and I also worked along­side lots of incred­ible organ­isa­tions work­ing to tackle this issue.

“Sadly, dur­ing the 14 years the Con­ser­vat­ives were in charge, rough sleep­ing more than doubled, as shame­lessly it was not a pri­or­ity for them. I won’t stand for that any­more and nor will our Labour Gov­ern­ment.”

Prime Min­is­ter Andy Burnham said: “Rough sleep­ing isn’t a fact of life. It’s a thing gov­ern­ments either choose to accept or don’t.

“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 we can’t do it alone. If we’re going to end rough sleep­ing, we need every part of soci­ety behind us on this. So today we’re bring­ing together busi­nesses, char­it­ies and local lead­ers in Down­ing Street to make sure this is a solu­tion that lasts.”

The Rough Sleep­ing Sum­mit marks the latest step in the Gov­ern­ment’s ongo­ing efforts to tackle home­less­ness and rough sleep­ing, bring­ing together part­ners from across soci­ety to deliver longterm solu­tions and sup­port for some of the most vul­ner­able people in the coun­try.