£846k fund to get people off city's streets by Christmas

Just under £850,000 has been given to Manchester to get people sleeping rough off the streets by Christmas.

The money was handed down by the government, and comes after Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged to end rough sleeping across the country.

Manchester City Council plans to give the money to organisations that work with homeless people to help them find a "route off the streets".

Figures published in March showed that the number of people sleeping rough in Manchester had increased on the previous 12 months.

There were 59 people without a bed for the night, up from the previous year but lower than the March 2024 figure of 65.

Tracey Rawlins, the deputy leader at Manchester City Council, welcomed the extra funding.

She said: "The factors which lead to people living on the streets are complicated, so those routes cannot be 'one size fits all' and may include treatment for addiction or mental health issues and other intensive support, not only accommodation."

In his first statement as prime minister outside 10 Downing Street in July, Burnham said: "I will soon go through that door behind me and issue my first instruction – to end rough sleeping in our country.

"It's about putting the right values and the right standards at the heart of government."

When he was metropolitan mayor of Greater Manchester, he pledged to end rough sleeping by 2020, and managed to reduce the figure from 268 in 2017 down to 90.

But the dip also coincided with a national effort from councils to bring rough sleepers inside during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the figure began to rise again alongside increases in the cost of living.

One of the organisations that will receive some of the £846,000 funding is Coffee4Craig, whose CEO Hendrix Lancaster described the prime minister's rough sleeping plans as "ballsy" during an interview shortly after Burnham's announcement in July.

"I think the way he'll do it is by giving more powers to local authorities, that's worked in Greater Manchester, so why not," he said.

A £442m package to provide emergency accommodation and practical support to rough sleepers around England was announced shortly after Burnham became prime minister.

Ahead of the first Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street in October, the government indicated that a further £432m would be added to the scheme.

Ten organisations in Manchester will be given a share of the city's funding, including Ancoats-based charity Mustard Tree.

Deputy council leader Rawlins added: "Our voluntary, charity and faith sector partners play a hugely important role within the city in providing the range of support which people living on the streets need.

"We are glad that we can use this extra funding to strengthen their work."

• Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.