Millions in extra cash handed out to help with tackling homelessness, improving special needs education provision and supporting hospices
HM Treasury
News that the new Labour government has found millions of extra cash to spend locally on homelessness, special needs education and hospices has been welcomed by local MPs and political leaders in Enfield.
A number of different government funding packages for the 2025/26 financial year were confirmed this week.
Most notably given the borough’s ongoing housing crisis, Enfield’s share of the Homelessness Prevention Grant will be increasing by more than £4million in 2025 – a rise of 37% on the current year – as part of a total £633m package announced this week by Housing Secretary Angela Rayner.
For special needs funding, Education Secretary Bridget Philipson announced a £740m national grant for creating more specialist places in mainstream schools, with £750,000 of capital investment for Enfield being welcomed by the council’s cabinet member for young people.
There has also been an announcement by Health Secretary Wes Streeting of a £100m funding package for hospices in England, with North London Hospice welcoming this news, although it’s not yet known how much the charity will be specifically allocated.
It’s also not known whether the extra £4m for homelessness will cover all of the additional council spending on temporary accommodation required in 2025/26. A financial report published in September suggested that the council was facing £7.3m of extra costs on housing homeless residents.
Enfield has been at the epicentre of a London-wide and national homelessness crisis over the last few years as a result of rocketing demand for emergency accommodation at a time when housing availability has dropped to an all-time-low. This forced the council to use at least £30m of reserves over three years largely to meet the additional costs of homelessness.
Council leader Ergin Erbil said: “Homelessness has a truly devastating impact on every aspect of people’s lives which is why it’s an absolute priority for this council to try and protect local people affected by the national homelessness emergency.
“I welcome this desperately needed additional funding to help support the needs of homeless families in our borough and I look forward to continuing to work with the new government to help deliver long term solutions to the housing crisis.
“This includes the delivery of our ambitious local housing schemes such as our 3,500 council housebuilding programme as well as our Meridian Water development and the regeneration of the Joyce and Snells estates.”
As well as securing additional homelessness prevention funding, the council continues to talk to the new government about “other policy changes” and supporting the “financial sustainability” of the council.
In November councillors heard that the civic centre was lobbying government to fix the borough’s “underfunding”, with the local authority said to be the fourth worst-off in England when it comes to comparing “relative need to relative funding”.
Urgent demands include making the increase in Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates a permanent measure and removing the cap on LHA payable for temporary accommodation in housing benefit subsidy.
Ayten Guzel, the council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “Enfield Council is determined to work with the government to take the action needed to tackle the impact of the homelessness crisis in our borough and build the affordable homes needed by local people.
“Today’s announcement will help with some of the immediate financial pressures we face in supporting families in temporary accommodation. We will continue to lobby for the additional funding needed to support local people during this crisis and deliver our long-term plans for good quality affordable housing in Enfield.”
The Labour government’s extra support for homelessness comes amid a record 123,000 families living in temporary accommodation – including nearly 160,000 children. Deputy Prime Minister Rayner said: “Too many people have been failed by the system time and again. 160,000 children face spending this Christmas without a stable place to call home. I am determined to break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good.
“This largest-ever investment marks a turning point, giving councils the tools they need to act quickly and put in place support for people to tackle, reduce and prevent homelessness. It’s time to turn the tide.”
The government will also soon be banning Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, something the previous Conservative administration repeatedly promised but never delivered on.
Cllr Erbil added: “People voted for a Labour government because this country needs to change – and that’s what this government is delivering.”
All three local Labour MPs have also welcomed the government’s extra cash for tackling homelessness, with Southgate and Wood Green MP Bambos Charalambous saying he was “absolutely delighted”, Enfield North MP Feryal Clark describing it as a “lifeline” and Edmonton and Winchmore Hill MP Kate Osamor adding it would “make a difference to so many”.
Responding to Wes Streeting’s announcement of an extra £100m for hospices in England, North London Hospice CEO Declan Carroll said: “With running costs of over £16m per year and growing demand, we know that we will still be very much reliant on donations and fundraising to keep providing all our services, but this is a significant step and one for which we are very grateful.
“We look forward to hearing more in the new year about how we can use this funding to create a better care environment for our patients.”
And responding to the £740m national grant for creating more special needs places in schools, the council’s cabinet member for young people and education, Abdul Abdullahi, said: “The new Labour government is taking action and fixing the foundations of our schools system and our country to get Britain back on track.”
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