Milton Keynes North MP Ben Everitt has praised local charities after rough sleeping in the city fell by 49% across the last year.
As well as almost halving in the space of a year, the number of rough sleepers in MK has actually dropped by 62.5% since the 2017 figures were released.
The Government's Everyone In initiative was put in place to ensure anybody sleeping rough, in unsafe communal settings or at imminent risk of rough sleeping were given emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local charities, MK Bus Shelter, YMCA MK, the Winter Night Shelter and the Salvation Army have all played a huge role in supporting vulnerable people, while Crisis and Shelter have done important work nationally.
Milton Keynes has received more than £7.5 million from the Government since the beginning of 2020 which has been directed specifically at supporting rough sleeping and homelessness.
Speaking in the House Of Commons, Ben said: “Over the last 20 months we’ve had a reduction of 49% in the number of rough sleepers in Milton Keynes.
“That’s incredibly welcome and that’s down to the hard work of the Everyone In programme, the millions of pounds of Government funding allocated to the local authorities and local charities but most importantly and I’m sure the Secretary of State will agree with me on this, it’s down to the team effort of charities like the Bus Shelter, the Winter Night Shelter, the YMCA, the Salvation Army and the national charities such as Shelter and Crisis.”
Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, responded: “My Honourable Friend is absolutely right, this is a collective effort across the whole country and in every individual community and I’d like to join him in praising everybody in Milton Keynes for their hard work achieving almost a 50% reduction in rough sleeping over the course of the year. It’s a huge achievement.”
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