Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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No Second Night Out roll-out

December 04 2013
Despite its critics, rough sleeping precention scheme goes national

 

Thirty homelessness projects across England have received a total of £3.5m in funding as part of the government’s attempt to prevent rough sleeping and get individuals off the street through the No Second Night Out (NSNO) strategy.

The scheme, which is controversial, is being progressively rolled out across England. It will help fund a range of services for some of the 2,300 people estimated to be sleeping rough on any one night in England.

The NSNO approach uses street workers to identify and engage with rough sleepers and ensure they no not spend a second night on the streets.

However, critics say that it fails to help those who have been seen by NSNO staff before as this makes them ineligible for future help. They say that its one-size-fits-all approach also struggles to deal with those who do not want to be housed in a hostel setting – to avoid drug taking for example – or be sent back to their home region.

The grants – of between £50,000 and £150,000 – come from the £20m Homelessness Transition Fund administered by Homeless Link and funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Despite this funding, rough sleeping counts have continued to rise. From April 2013 to March 2013, almost 6,500 people were sleeping on the street, a rise of 13 percent from the previous year. Three-quarters of these people slept out only once. About 2,800 them were, significantly less than half, found accommodation or went back to their home areas through No Second Night Out programmes.

Sharon Allen, the chair of the panel which granted the new funding, said: “We know how damaging spending a night on the streets is to an individual’s wellbeing. The grants we have awarded so far have helped thousands of people to escape homelessness and move towards independence.

“The 30 projects chosen for this final round will continue this good work and ensure that individuals who find themselves without a home can be supported to get their lives back on track.”

The new funding comes at the end of the first year that the StreetLink phone line has been in operation. This service allows members of the public to call a hotline to notify charities of people who they see sleeping rough, so that they can be targeted by local homelessness projects within the No Second Night Out scheme.

• Rough sleepers can also use StreetLink to request an outreach worker themselves: call 0300 500 0914 or visit streetlink.org.uk.

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