West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas has welcomed the announcement of £4.4 million to Cornwall Council which will be used to provide safe, long-term homes for rough sleepers and other vulnerable people.

The funding is part of a £150million scheme to deliver more than 3,300 long term homes by the end of March 2021 and builds on the ‘Everyone In’ campaign launched at the start of the pandemic which has helped to support over 29,000 vulnerable people, enabling councils to keep rough sleepers safe.

Cornwall Council will oversee local schemes that provide secure ‘move on’ style accommodation for people at risk of sleeping on the streets.

Mr Thomas says this latest announcement will help the Government to fulfil its manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024.

“Homelessness is a real blight on our society which should not be tolerated and I have been involved in efforts to reduce reducing the number of rough sleepers since becoming an MP in 2015,” he said.

“I fully support the Government in its manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping and one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic has been that it has concentrated minds on this particular issue.

“The ‘Everyone In’ plan is widely seen as a world-leading scheme which has protected those sleeping rough from the pandemic and has required a huge amount of work not just here in Cornwall but across the country to make it a success.

“The new funding announcement will enable Cornwall Council to provide the homes that are needed so that the vulnerable people who are sleeping rough have a stable base from which they can hopefully build a better life.”