By Andy Burnham has admitted government funding “may not fully be enough” to achieve his aim of offering a place to stay to every rough sleeper by Christmas, as he made a “rallying call” for communities to get behind his plan.
Speaking on a visit to the north-east of England, the prime minister said:
double quotation mark The government money itself may not fully be enough. So I am saying, putting the call out to community and voluntary organisations – we’re at one here in Newcastle today, doing fantastic work.But we’re saying to the wider community, voluntary, and faith sector: come on, let’s get behind this. Let’s show what Britain can do when we all pull in the same direction.
He added:
double quotation mark We did it in the pandemic, we can do it again, and it’s a rallying call, really, that I’m putting out there today with a lot of government money behind it.
Burnham also defended his previous record on homelessness in Greater Manchester, saying:
double quotation mark We did bring the numbers right down, but because we were the only area providing a high level of support, more people started to travel and it became difficult.
Originally published on www.theguardian.com — View original