Youth Homelessness

Siân Berry AM moved, and Andrew Boff AM seconded, the following motion:

“This Assembly notes the considerable budget the Government and Mayor have put towards helping people rough sleeping in London, both in the first waves of the coronavirus crisis and as we head into winter. This Assembly also notes that the Mayor’s winter rough sleeping campaign will raise funds specifically for youth homelessness charities this year.

However within this budget there is no specific, ring-fenced support for young people, aged 16 – 25. The number of young people who have ended up on the streets has increased 47 per cent in the last quarter compared to this time last year, and now they make up 11 per cent of our city’s rough sleepers.

Uniquely vulnerable and with distinct needs, we should recognise the benefits of action to not just house these young people in a safe environment away from the streets, but to offer help with budgeting, healthcare, counselling, mentoring and educational opportunities before they become long-term rough sleepers.

This Assembly asks the Mayor to dedicate a suitable proportion of GLA rough sleeping funding to specialist pan-London support for homeless young people, and calls on the Government to provide additional funding to support this. This Assembly also calls on the Mayor to report quarterly to the London Assembly’s Housing Committee on progress in dealing with this important issue.”

Following debate and upon being put to a vote, the motion was agreed unanimously.