Leading homelessness organisations have written to the Government warning that many homelessness services may be forced to ‘close their doors all together’ unless energy support is extended.
The Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), which was introduced to support individuals and organisations with rising energy costs, is due to end in March 2023.
However, 32 of the country's leading homelessness organisations yesterday wrote to the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Grant Shapps warning that the failure to extend the scheme beyond the March deadline could have a ‘devastating’ impact.
The letter was coordinated by the charity Homeless Link and is signed by 32 providers of homelessness services across England, including Shelter, Centrepoint, St Mungo’s and the National Housing Federation.
Homeless Link CEO Rick Henderson said: ‘Many homelessness services get the majority of their funding through local authorities. In the main, these budgets were finalised when inflation was a fraction of what it is now, with very few receiving an uplift to reflect rising costs. Therefore, support with rising energy bills has been a lifeline for homelessness organisations across the country as they deal with spiralling inflation.
‘But there is deep concern in the homelessness sector of this support coming to an end in just a matter of months. Having to shoulder hugely inflated energy costs will force services to scale back their work, or even close their doors all together. This warning comes at a time when all indicators show levels of homelessness are on the rise, with the very real fear that people experiencing homelessness won’t have safe, trusted support to turn to if the Government pulls the plug on the EBRS scheme.’
