In this month’s column, Kit Malthouse, MP for North West Hampshire, discusses the issue of rough sleeping and how the government is working to reduce it in the Andover area.

We’re on a mission to end rough sleeping, and the latest funding - £212 million from the £435 million Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme - has just been allocated to local authorities.

Here in North West Hampshire, we have secured around £1.5 million with Test Valley receiving just over £913,000, while Basingstoke and Deane gets £565,000.

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This money is designed to end the revolving door whereby rough sleepers accept help, are placed in short term accommodation such as a hostel, but then they too often find themselves back on the streets because their underlying mental health or addictions have not been tackled.

We are changing this. The funding will get people off our streets and into longer term accommodation, often converted old buildings that were in a state of disrepair. Importantly, ongoing support will be attached to this accommodation – once they are in their new home, they will be helped by specialist staff such as health workers and counsellors.

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Many of them will also benefit from the biggest ever uplift in spending on drug treatment and rehabilitation, secured as part of our 10-year drug strategy, the creation of which I am proud to have led and launched before Christmas.

Just one person sleeping rough is one too many. And if we are to truly end rough sleeping, we must tackle its causes, help people towards training and work, deal with their addictions, and make sure they find the path to stability and independence at last.