I took the heads of two leading Sheffield homelessness charities to tell Ministers about the barriers they face to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.

Roundabout and the Cathedral Archer Project are doing great work in our city, but we need resources and policies across Government geared towards preventing homelessness if we’re to fully tackle the problem.

I raised the issue of cuts to Local Authority budgets holding back efforts to tackle homelessness with Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden MP in the House of Commons back in September, and he agreed to meet with me to look at what can be done.

Together with the charities, I pushed the Minister on making sure there is a cross-government approach to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. This includes everything from supporting families to providing secure housing.

It’s also vital the Government takes a long-term approach rather than simply racing to cut headline homeless and rough sleeping numbers. I’ll be following up on commitments the Minister made in the meeting to look at these issues.