Charity welcomes Burnham pledge to end rough sleeping

A charity that helps homeless people across the south and west of England has called Andy Burnham's pledge to end rough sleeping "brilliant".

The new prime minister made the commitment outside Downing Street on Monday, having earlier told reporters achieving it would require everyone "pulling together".

It follows a similar pledge when he became mayor of Greater Manchester, where the number of rough sleepers has gone down but the issue has not been eradicated.

Zoe Conn, of Alongside, a homeless charity formerly known as Julian House that works in Dorset, Hampshire, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, said delivering the commitment would be "a real challenge".

"It is somewhat surprising given how much is going on across the country and internationally that he's continuing to put such a focus on rough sleeping as his first priority as prime minister," she said.

"It is brilliant."

Addressing the country on Monday as he prepared to enter Number 10, Burnham said his first instruction as prime minister would be to "end rough sleeping in our country".

Earlier in the day, he visited a homeless shelter in London, where he pointed to the "Everyone In" scheme that was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We did it then, we can do it now," he told reporters.

Con, who is Alongside's fundraising and development director, added: "It's a bold statement, it's laudable, it's ambitious, but the challenge now comes in how is he going to deliver that.

"Successive prime ministers and governments have committed to that over the last decade or so, and yet we're in a position where across England's rough sleeping is at its highest rates since records began," she added.

The numbers of rough sleepers in Manchester has fallen under Burnham's watch, but it has not been totally eradicated.

Despite that, Conn said the new prime minister had "made strides" in tackling the issue in the city.

"He's also, crucially, probably learned lessons in Greater Manchester which hopefully he can then apply in the national context," she added.