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Nottingham to get more than £100,000 in extra funding for winter rough sleeping support

By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter

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An extra £100,000 in Government funding is being diverted to Nottingham to help the city cope with a rise in rough sleeping over winter.

The Labour Government said this week it is tripling its support funding for those sleeping on the streets this winter from £10 million to £30 million nationwide.

As part of this, the East Midlands is getting an extra £1,831,772 this financial year from the government to help services provide warm beds for those sleeping rough long-term and to help frontline staff.

One local homelessness support charity warned the cash was only a “sticking plaster” which would not help people off the streets long-term.

The extra £20 million has been given to the 280 local authorities who have the biggest numbers and increases in people sleeping rough.

Nottingham City Council is to get an extra £283,611, bringing its total rough sleeping funding to £456,253 for the financial year- the highest amount received in the region.

It is over £100,000 more than last year, with the authority receiving £337,988 in 2023/24.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) previously reported in December 2024 that 739 different people had been found rough sleeping in the city over the past year. 

Figures from Framework Housing Association in early 2023 said that there were 729 people rough sleeping – which was already a 21 per cent increase on the previous two years.

As of December, figures from the council in the annual street count showed 56 people were found sleeping rough in the city each night on average- in early 2023 it was estimated around 40 people were sleeping on the city’s streets.

Speaking to the LDRS, Chris Senior, Communications Manager at Framework Housing Association, said: “Obviously we are very pleased that there has been an increase in support.

“[But] we have no idea how the funding is going to be used, and whether Framework would be a beneficiary- Framework waits with interest to hear what they will do with the money.

“It is a sticking plaster in relation to the scale of the long term challenge- what we need is a strategy.”

Emmanuel House, a Nottingham-Based charity supporting homelessness, does not get direct statutory funding for winter shelter provision, such as that in the recent announcement, however a spokesperson for the charity said: “Any additional funding that comes into the sector is good news.

“It is likely that because of the demand for homelessness service it will be some time before we see an actual difference to the numbers of people who are homeless in Nottingham.”

Cllr Jay Hayes (Lab), executive member for housing and planning at the city council, said the biggest difference made from the increased funding will likely be in “preventative work”.

He said: “We’re still assessing what we’re doing but we expect it will have impact in coming months, we will look at trying to get more accommodation for rough sleepers but prevent them from rough sleeping and finding them accommodation before going on the streets.

“We will be working with partners to bring on more temporary accommodation, linking up with our healthcare providers and trying to help people with healthcare needs and to have much more of a joint up approach- this funding will help us do some of this work with specialist officers in place.”

Rushanara Ali MP, Minister of State for Homelessness said: “Behind every sad rough sleeping statistic, there is a person who has been let down by the system for far too long. This government is more determined than ever to turn the tide on years of failure to properly invest in our frontline services.

“Through our Plan for Change we are already taking urgent action to tackle the worst housing crisis in living memory, delivering the biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation and getting us back on track to end homelessness for good.”

Nottinghamshire district and borough councils have also benefited from the increased funding.

In total, Ashfield District Council will receive £69,410, with Bassetlaw District Council getting £96,600, Broxtowe Borough Council £66,977, Gedling Borough Council £28,027, Mansfield District Council £139,940, Newark and Sherwood District Council £18,984 and Rushcliffe Borough Council £26,650.

In total, Leicester City Council will receive £388,652, Derby City Council will get £349,045 and Lincoln City Council will receive £205,628.