Homeless groups on pledge to 'end' rough sleeping

"I don't think we'll ever end it. But what we can do is certainly improve it significantly."

The first pledge by new prime minister Andy Burnham - to end rough sleeping - has been applauded by the chief executive of Saltbox, a homeless charity in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

But Lloyd Cooke, who has led the organisation for nearly 40 years, painted a realistic picture of the challenge of tackling homelessness in the city.

The government said an additional £340m would be provided to support the policy, providing 1,200 homes and "intensive support" for at least 3,000 people in England over a five-year period.

Cooke explained they were dealing with people who had very challenging drug and alchohol addiction and mental health issues and the answer was not simply "let's find more beds".

"These are some of the most chaotic and broken people. There needs to be some major financial commitment to enhance some services that are there."

The pastor went on to say he felt confident in the announcement, given Burnham made the same pledge in Manchester when he was mayor, and initially managed to halve rough sleeping.

The latest national statistics, published by the government in February this year, estimated there were 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England.

This was a new record high and the fourth annual increase in a row.

"It is getting worse", according to the director of Stafford-based homeless support charity, the House of Bread.

Will Morris raised concerns that government funding needs to "find its way" to local providers who have the "innovative options" to tackle this.

On the issue of helping rough sleepers, he said: "We are dealing with more complex needs. It's drug addiction, availability of drugs."

But he was positive that real change could be delivered, and said the people he worked with need "hope", because a lot of them were "hope-less" in their situation.

"It's a great opportunity to get this back on the agenda and start making some real changes. We need our community behind us to do this."

The £340m programme announced by Burnham follows the government of former PM Sir Keir Starmer publishing a national plan to end homelessness in December, which was backed by £3.6bn.

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