Last updated at 16:31, Wednesday, 05 September 2012

MORE than £200,000 will be ploughed into south and west Cumbria to help prevent homelessness.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said help for those facing “the real and frightening prospect” will carry on until the end of the current Parliament.

Councils across the country will receive a share of £160m, with Barrow being handed £94,434, Copeland £50,185 and South Lakeland £66,592.

In addition, a new website and telephone line will be live for Christmas, allowing anyone to call and give details of people sleeping rough so they can be found and given the right help.

Mr Shapps said: “All too often, we see people sleeping rough on our streets and don’t know what to do for the best, where to turn to get them help and whether offering a handout really does offer them help out of homelessness.

“That’s why I’m delighted that, this December, StreetLink will offer a solution, with members of the public able to ring a national helpline or use a website accessible by smart phone to help ensure someone sleeping rough can be found and connected to local services.”

Mr Shapps said the cash allocations would allow councils to continue their preventative work which includes, outreach services to help rough sleepers, mediation services to prevent relationship breakdowns and providing rent deposit schemes to allow homeless people to get accommodation. A report last month examining homelessness across the country showed the stark variations across areas and within Cumbria itself.

The number of homeless households in England rose by more than 25 per cent in the past three years, but the picture across Copeland was worse with a 42.65 per cent increase in the same period from 113 to 215 families.

Levels fell across Barrow from 40 to 29 (down 27.5 per cent) and South Lakeland from 55 to 48 (down 5.88 per cent).

Pat Chapples, manager of Furness Homeless Support Group, said: “We welcome the government’s announcement to continue to provide local councils with funding to assist with preventative work, and hopefully this will reduce the levels of homelessness locally.”

First published at 16:36, Tuesday, 04 September 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk