Liverpool Council’s health chief has defended the local authority after millions of pounds worth of funding for rough sleepers was withdrawn.
Cllr Frazer Lake, Cabinet Member for Social Care & Health, said plans for a new accommodation centre for rough sleepers in the city - backed by £4m in UK Government funding - “fell through at the 11th hour through no fault” of Liverpool Council.
Liverpool Council's budget proposals for 2022/23 made clear the centre will no longer go ahead as planned, despite a student housing block on Smithdown Lane receiving planning permission to be converted to provide accommodation supporting short-term homeless recovery.
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In a series of tweets, Cllr Lake, who took up his role in May last year, defended Liverpool Council’s position, claiming those who require support with temporary accommodation would “never be ignored.”
He said: “The collapse of the Smithdown Lane scheme, to help house rough sleepers, was a bitterly disappointing blow. There was great frustration that after all the hard work to get the scheme ready, it fell through at the 11th hour through no fault of @lpoolcouncil.
“But despite this setback, the good news is we’ve found other ways to create the capacity we need. By working with the YMCA & RSLs, 160 beds are being created across the City to help people stay off our streets. Believe me, rough sleepers will never be ignored in Liverpool.”
Initially, £4M of funding had been allocated from the first tranche of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) Next Steps Accommodation Programme combined with City Council matched funding of £6.393M.
A Liverpool Council spokesperson said that the project fell through because “funding timescales were very tight and once it became clear that building could not be used, the council was unable to identify an alternative building within the deadline.”
Cllr Lake said attempts had been made to convince the UK Government to extend the deadline but were unsuccessful.
In closing the thread, Cllr Lake defended the council’s record on tackling rough sleeping.
He said: “Approximately 2200 people were accommodated throughout the pandemic and the Council kept the Everyone In scheme going a year after this was ended by the Government. Liverpool cares and we always will.”
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