Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright announced that people sleeping on the streets or staying in bed and breakfast accommodation will benefit from the biggest ever cash injection for homeless services.
Councils will receive at least £150 million over three years to help them prevent and tackle homelessness in their areas. This will include almost £50 million in homelessness grants next year - a £3 million increase on last year and a rise of 6%.
All local authorities will receive at least £30,000, with some receiving increases of 25% higher than last year - including Newham, Solihull and Sunderland.
This is the first time that Communities and Local Government has awarded a three-year settlement. This will help councils plan for the long term and achieve even more for their money. It will also help them meet the targets to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation by 50% and end the use of bed and breakfast for 16 and 17 year olds by 2010.
Councils will be able to invest the funding in expanding successful prevention schemes, such as rent deposit and mediation services, which have contributed to huge falls in homelessness, and make further reductions in rough sleeping by funding outreach and day centre services.
Latest statistics published in September show that new cases of homelessness reported by local authorities have fallen by 18% in comparison to the same period last year to 15,960 - the lowest level since the early 1980s. The number of households placed in temporary accommodation is down 10% compared to the same date last year, falling to 84,900 from 93,910. The figures show that 87% of households in temporary accommodation are in self-contained homes with their own front door.
The Government pledged last November to end the use of B&B as accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year olds as part of a national plan in partnership with the voluntary sector and local authorities, to prevent and tackle youth homelessness.
Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright unveiled a major refocusing of Government's homelessness strategy, challenging hostels and charities to promote greater entrepreneurial spirit and create more training and employment opportunities for homeless people.
The Minister launched the £1.5 million Dragon's Den style competition, called Spark, at the offices of the social enterprise The Big Issue. The competition will enable hostels and homelessness charities to pitch for financial support, mentoring and a business 'make-over' to grow their social enterprise businesses, encouraging the development of employment opportunities and skills.
The organisations with the best ideas will win a share of the prize fund and mentoring from experienced social entrepreneurs and business leaders such as John Bird, the founder of The Big Issue magazine and Tim Campbell, a winner of The Apprentice and the founder of the Bright Ideas Trust. PricewaterhouseCoopers are also on board to give the winning organisations expert advice on how to grow their social enterprises.
The competition is part of a major new partnership between the Government, the private sectors and the voluntary sectors, which aims to increase the number of social enterprises in the homelessness sector to help homeless people build the skills and confidence to end their homelessness for good.
A shortlist of the top 15 applicants will be announced in February 2008, and each will receive coaching in preparation for a Dragon's Den style pitch event in April.
The Minister also announced the allocation of £51 million of homelessness grant funding for the voluntary sector over the next three years (on top of the £150 million already announced for local authorities) to help them tackle and prevent homelessness.
Speaking at the event Iain Wright said:
"Hostels of the future shouldn't just provide a safety net but a springboard to employment, opportunity and a better future.
"We need to refocus our strategy, so the homelessness sector puts greater emphasis on providing a route into jobs and employment as well as providing support and shelter for the most vulnerable. Greater social enterprise has the potential to transform services for homeless people and this initiative is about promoting a real culture change across the sector. It is about strengthening our efforts to end the 'revolving door' of persistent long-term homelessness.
"This exciting competition will help homeless charities grow their social enterprises, which also helps them generate a source of income and become more sustainable. It is a fantastic example of government working in partnership with the voluntary and private sector to deliver a common goal for homeless people - to help them end their homelessness for good."
The organisations will pitch their enterprise idea to a panel of experienced social entrepreneurs including well known faces from the homelessness sector. The top five ideas will win a share of the cash, mentoring and a one-day 'enterprise makeover'. The ten runners-up will all receive coaching and mentoring to help them develop social enterprises that help more homeless people into training, volunteering and jobs.
The scheme follows the success of the Department's £160 million hostels improvement programme, which has funded social enterprises like the Crisis Cafe in Newcastle which is giving homeless people a route into catering.
To run the programme Communities and Local Government has commissioned The Trees Group, a leading Social enterprise organisation.