CC: The Rt Hon Greg Clark

Secretary of State

Communities and Local Government

2 Marsham Street 

London

SW1P 4DF

The Rt Hon George Osborne

Chancellor of the Exchequer

HM Treasury

1 Horse Guards Road

SW1A 2HQ

Date: 21^st November 2015

Dear George,

I am writing to you about the Homelessness Prevention Grant and the upcoming Spending Review.

As you will know, the grant was allocated to local authorities by the DCLG for the last 5 years and has allowed local authorities to prevent and tackle homelessness.

I am extremely concerned that, at a time when the country is in the grip of a housing shortage, further spending cuts under the spending review will mean that this grant will not be renewed.

It is of absolute importance that this grant is protected until 2020, particularly as Crisis has estimated that homelessness costs the Government £1 billion annually and tackling it early could save between £3000 and £18,000 for every person helped.

I also believe that the grant could be improved substantially by allocating finances depending on the needs of the local authority. This would ensure that areas which have seen a huge rise in homelessness, like Brighton and Hove, would have sufficient access to funds which are desperately needed to improve services for non-statutory homeless people. Additionally, rigorous monitoring of the grant would help to ensure that it is used to correctly and effectively.

I, therefore, urge the Government to protect this grant in the upcoming spending review.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Yours sincerely,