Braintree District Council is among five councils in Essex to share £300,000 to help tackle rough sleeping.
Essex County Council led the successful bid to the Next Steps Accommodation Programme in partnership with Braintree, Chelmsford, Epping, Maldon and Rochford.
The Next Steps Accommodation Programme is a government scheme to help rough sleepers who are brought into emergency accommodation in response to Covid-19 and to support efforts to avoid them returning to sleeping rough. It is hoped that the scheme will reduce rough sleeping in the long term.
The funding, which covers the period to March 31, 2021, will enable councils to build on partnerships to provide interim accommodation for rough sleepers over the winter months, and provide support to address the range of problems which have led to homelessness.
Councillor John Spence, Essex County Council’s cabinet member for Health and Adult Social Care said: “We are delighted to have been successful in our bid. By working together, we can make a real difference in addressing the problems of homeless rough sleeping in Essex with the long-term aim of eradicating it completely.”
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