WARRINGTON has been allocated £545,000 to tackle rough sleeping and support some of the borough’s most vulnerable people.

The Conservatives have announced local authorities will receive a share of an additional £112 million through the rough sleeping initiative to help get people off the streets and into safe and secure accommodation.

An additional £236 million will also fund ‘move on’ accommodation for up to 6,000 rough sleepers, as part of plans to ensure nobody has to sleep on the streets at night.

Warrington South Tory MP Andy Carter welcomed the Government announcement.

He said: “I am delighted that funding to tackle rough sleeping at Warrington Borough Council will increase to over £545,000 this year.

“This Conservative Government has shown it is absolutely determined to end rough sleeping and I was especially pleased to see the Government bring forward its target of achieving this, from 2027 to 2024, at the last election.

“There is still a lot more we can do and I’ll be working with the council and local organisations to ensure the additional funds are spent locally in the most effective way”.

The cash will be used for projects like the Somewhere Safe to Stay Hub, outreach work and efforts aligned to the priorities in the council’s homelessness and rough sleeping strategy.

But Cllr Maureen McLaughlin, the council’s cabinet member for housing, public health and wellbeing, said it remains the case that Conservative austerity policies have had a direct impact on homelessness and the causes of it.

She added: “This Labour administration has consistently worked to prevent rough sleeping and to support people into safe accommodation.

“We welcome any financial support which will help us to tackle this issue and this funding will be used to deliver agreed and targeted support to prevent and address rough sleeping in line with our homelessness and rough sleeping strategy.

“We need a long-term solution to the housing crisis and a reversal of cuts to preventative services such as mental health, addiction and youth services.

“Also, the financial problems people face – due to problems with universal credit and unfair assessments for disability payments – must be fully addressed.

“These root causes of homelessness must be tackled if we are to fully succeed in our ambitions to put an end to rough sleeping and ensure everyone has a safe place to live in.”

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said he is determined for the Government to end rough sleeping in the current Parliament.