Leaders asked to commit £1m to tackle homelessness

Local councils fear if Housing Related Support was cut completely, many struggling residents would fall into homelessness.

Council leaders have been asked to commit £1m to prevent homelessness.

The Suffolk Public Sector Leaders (SPSL) consists of leaders from the six councils in the county, the police and crime commissioner and the chairperson of the local Integrated Care Systems.

In a meeting on Friday they will discuss a proposal to commit £1m to transition councils to a more localised providing of Housing Related Support (HRS).

It comes after Suffolk County Council cut £1m from its HRS budget in February for this financial year and £2m in 2025/26 in a bid to make savings.

At the same time, the county council decided to hold back £1.5m to help mitigate initial impacts, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The current annual cost of the county council's HRS service is £4.122m, which provides 5.4 hours of support per person each week in up to 725 accommodation places.

Local councils fear if HRS was cut completely, many struggling residents would fall into homelessness.

Friday’s meeting also comes at a time when local councils have been considering their measures to ensure funding is available, with West Suffolk Council having approved an initial £200,000 investment on 17 July.

The SPSL is funded through Suffolk’s business rates pool - with £5.2m available this financial year - and is meant to ease cooperation across councils on specific issues.