UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says spending on ending rough sleeping will almost double to about £900m by the end of the parliament, with a further £432m due in this week's Budget, the Guardian reports.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is to double spending on ending rough sleeping in England to almost £900m by the end of the current parliament, the Guardian reports. He has pledged that every rough sleeper in England will be offered a safe route off the streets or wider support by Christmas. Ahead of a Downing Street summit on the issue, he said this week's Budget would bring a further £432m, on top of an initial £442m from housing ministry budgets to be allocated before March 2027. "Rough sleeping isn't a fact of life," Burnham said. "It's a thing governments either choose to accept or don't."

The summit brought together businesses, charities, housing providers and local leaders, and several organisations made pledges alongside the government. The National Housing Federation is working with housing associations to identify at least 2,000 potential homes and bed spaces, including empty properties that could be brought back into use. Virgin Media O2 will provide digital support to frontline organisations, while the charities St Mungo's and Haircuts4Homeless will work with L'Oréal on hair salons and wellbeing provision for people who have slept rough. Specialist outreach teams and new accommodation are already operating in Coventry, with further provision due in places including Plymouth and Camden.

Burnham introduced schemes such as A Bed Every Night as mayor of Greater Manchester; rough-sleeper numbers fell there but later rose again, which he has attributed to people travelling to the area for support that was not available elsewhere. He says national action is meant to ensure all areas pull in the same direction. The homelessness charity Shelter welcomed the funding, saying a safe home is "a necessity", and housing secretary Angela Rayner called the Christmas goal a "big ambition". The Conservatives dismissed the move: shadow housing secretary Katie Lam said rough sleeping has hit record highs under Labour and accused the government of offering more spending and "empty promises".