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Suffolk leaders commit £1 million to prevent homelessness




Suffolk leaders have committed £1 million to prevent homelessness across the county.

The decision was taken during this morning’s Suffolk Public Sector Leaders (SPSL) group meeting, to transition councils to a more localised providing of Housing Related Support (HRS).

The group is made up of the leaders of the six main councils, the police and crime commissioner, and the chairperson of the local Integrated Care Systems.

Suffolk leaders have committed £1 million to prevent homelessness across the county. Picture: iStock
Suffolk leaders have committed £1 million to prevent homelessness across the county. Picture: iStock

This morning’s decision follows Suffolk County Council’s (SCC) decision in February to cut £1 million from its HRS this financial year, and £2 million in 2025/26, ultimately axing its support to make savings

West Suffolk’s leader, Cliff Waterman, said the leaders were understanding of the reasons behind SCC’s decision.

He added: “What could’ve been quite a disastrous change for some of our communities, because we’ve been able to work together, it has actually moved the service closer to local people.

“In a perverse way, we’ve actually benefitted from what looked initially like quite a challenging situation.”

The county council’s decision also included holding back £1.5 million to help mitigate initial impacts.

In the meantime, local councils have already made provisions to replace HRS funding out of their own budgets over fears it could lead to an increase in homelessness — West Suffolk Council was the latest to do so, with an initial £200,000 investment agreed last Wednesday.

Ipswich’s leader, Cllr Neil MacDonald, said: “We are putting our own money into this, but it will be less overall than it was before and perhaps that will drive up homelessness.

“Although I’m happy to support this, we have that caveat with it that it won’t be as good as it used to be.”

The money will be funded through the group’s budget which comes from Suffolk’s business rates pool — with £5.2 million available this financial year — and is meant to ease cooperation across councils on specific issues.