Alison McGovern: ‘Homelessness crisis is a reminder of how politics can fail people. It cannot continue’

In politics, it’s the people you feel you have let down that you never forget.

For me. It’s the rough-sleeping veteran whose post-traumatic stress stopped him from being able to go to my local hostel. I couldn’t believe I found it so hard to get him a suitable place of shelter.

And back in my days on Southwark Council, the Afghan father whose children had escaped the Taliban, only to have to sleep in the living room because their flat was overcrowded.

I can see their faces.

So, I felt it personally when I read the terrible figures for those who have died while homeless in 2024. Of the 11 homeless children who died that year, four were babies under the age of one.

Half of the 1,611 homeless people who died did so by suicide or drug or alcohol abuse and 169 were sleeping on the streets.

Every one was a precious human – deserving of dignity.

This cannot continue.

Every local MP or councillor – especially those in areas of housing stress – will tell you the same. Getting a safe, dry home for people who have been let down is a regular occurrence in constituency surgeries, and you are often trying to help people in distress to escape heartbreaking situations that you know will shape their mental wellbeing forever.

Worst still, councils are facing spiralling bills for temporary accommodation, so the taxpayer loses out too.

We need a plan that takes on the causes of this crisis as well as providing immediate, much-needed relief to stop it getting worse.

Read more:

• Alison McGovern named as new homelessness minister after Rushanara Ali rent scandal
• First minister John Swinney: ‘We must ensure that every child in Scotland has a good place to live’
• Giving homeless people stable housing could save taxpayer £200m a year – if Labour wants to

Ultimately, we must build many more homes and more affordable, secure homes, as well as helping people get a decently paid job, with enough income to support the necessities of life.

And this government is aiming high, with plans to build 1.5 million new homes, including the biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation.

We’re also ending no-fault evictions through the Renters’ Rights Bill.

I know that this is something that Big Issue and many others have been calling for, for years.

This will make a huge difference for millions of families currently living with the fear that they could lose their home at a moment’s notice. 

These are significant steps, but we know that we also must act now to help those who can’t wait.

That’s why we’ve given councils across the country £84 million to provide more support for thousands of people, including children and families in temporary accommodation, with essentials like food costs, school travel and laundry.

The benefits of this funding will be felt in every region, including areas with the most acute homelessness and rough sleeping pressures, such as London, Manchester and Birmingham.

It comes on top of almost £1 billion investment we have already committed to tackling homelessness this year.

This includes the largest-ever investment in prevention services.

Again, this money will go directly to councils and mayoral authorities so they can act quickly to provide the right support for people in their area.

This could be tailored support such as mental and physical health services and drug and alcohol rehabilitation for those sleeping rough long-term.

The funding will also support local leaders to join forces with charities and community organisations to provide sustainable accommodation and specialist physical and mental health support workers and treatment.

Prevention is the best way forward when it comes to breaking the cycle of homelessness.  

As Lord Bird, founder of Big Issue, has said, we need long-term thinking and not sticking plaster solutions if we’re to deliver on this promise.

It’s this government’s approach to the big challenges that face us, and the kind of country we want to be.

The homelessness crisis we’ve inherited is a painful reminder of how politics can fail people.

But the chance for more people to fulfil their potential and have real chances and choices in life gives me hope.  

For too long, the Tories were content to look the other way as children and people at risk suffered.

But this Labour government believes that everyone deserves a safe, secure, affordable home and the chance of a decent life. We’ll all be better off when we are closer to that reality, and we’ll all feel the benefit of no more forgotten people, the possibility of those lives currently going to waste.

Alison McGovern is parliamentary under-secretary of state (minister for homelessness and democracy) and Labour MP for Birkenhead.

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