Thousands of vulnerable people will be able to get the specialist support they need to recover from life on the streets through the creation of new rough sleeping centres, announced today by Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP.

As part of the government’s £100 million Rough Sleeping Strategy – 11 Somewhere Safe to Stay centres will be set up across the country. These will help provide immediate shelter and rapid assessment for those sleeping rough or at risk of doing so as well as specialist support to address those with complex needs such as mental health problems and substance misuse.

This builds on the first year of the Rough Sleeping Initiative, launched in March, which is providing £64 million to over 80 councils over the next 2 years to support rough sleepers in their area.

This funding is already being put to good use by creating 1,750 new bed spaces, as well as an additional 500 outreach workers, many of whom are already working tirelessly to support people off the streets and into recovery.

The new hubs – backed by up to £4.8 million government funding – will be up and running by spring 2019, with a further 4 centres to follow next year.

Today’s announcement follows the publication of the government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy delivery plan earlier this month which set out targets and deadlines for 61 strategy commitments.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

No one should ever have to face a night on the streets, and as a government we are taking steps to ensure people are never faced with this as their only option.

These are vulnerable people, who may be dealing with complex mental health problems or addictions and require specialist help to tackle these issues and turn their lives around.

That’s why these vital new hubs will ensure those on the streets have access to professional help and guidance to start their recovery.

The first Somewhere Safe to Stay hubs will be launched in the following areas:

• Brighton & Hove
• Bristol
• Cheshire West & Chester
• Derby
• Gloucestershire (encompassing the 7 councils in the county)
• Lincoln
• Liverpool
• Medway
• Nottingham City
• Preston
• West London (encompassing 7 borough councils)

Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, said:

St Mungo’s is very pleased to be involved in the Somewhere Safe to Stay pilots. These will offer much needed emergency shelter where people in crisis can have their needs assessed urgently away from the extreme dangers of sleeping on the streets.

Crucially, these services will be targeted at those at immediate risk of sleeping rough. We will be encouraging a thorough evaluation of these pilots and want to see the learning used to roll out an approach to every area of the country that means no one who is homeless has to sleep rough before they receive the support they need.

Case Studies

Bristol

• The hub will be the only rapid assessment centre in the city centre and will have capacity for female or more vulnerable users.

• As a 24-hour service, it will allow for day programmes to be offered to those seeking support during the day.

• It will also be an integral part of the Bristol Shelter Programme, which includes a number of other charities and groups operating locally.

West London

• The hub will be located in Shepherd’s Bush, run in partnership with the charity St Mungo’s.

• It will complement and add to the existing No Second Night Out shelter by allowing referrals from a wider range of agencies and helping people receive support from services faster.

• It will provide separate spaces for women and the option of rooms for particularly vulnerable individuals.

Each centre will help those sleeping rough to be quickly assessed by specialist outreach workers, so they get the support they need to take the first steps towards recovery.

The hubs will play a vital role in identifying the issues that led to an individual sleeping on the streets in the first place and provide support to help them through things like a relationship breakdown, addiction or financial difficulties.

An estimated 6,000 people are expected to receive support through all 15 hubs by 2020.

Further information

The model was recommended by experts on the government’s Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel and is based on the London-based No Second Night Out Programme which consistently helps the capital’s rough sleepers away from the streets.

The hubs are part of government’s Rapid Rehousing Pathway. Further information on the delivery of the pathway will follow in due course.

No Second Night Out is a programme working across all London boroughs. The service prevented 800 people from sleeping rough on the streets again between April 2017 and March 2018.

New hubs will ensure those on the streets have access to professional help and guidance to start their recovery.

The Better Broadband Scheme offers a subsidised basic broadband connection to anyone unable to get download speeds of at least 2 mbps, and who will not benefit from the superfast broadband roll out within the next 12 months.

Since its launch in December 2015, the scheme has so far boosted the broadband speeds of more than 20,000 homes and businesses in some of the hardest to reach areas of the UK.

Households and businesses that are eligible to take advantage of the scheme have the installation and hardware costs of their connection subsidised to ensure their first year costs are no more than £400.

The subsidy is used to fund a variety of technology solutions including – satellite, 4G and fixed wireless.

The closing date for applications has now been extended until 31 December 2019.

Margot James, Minister for Digital, said:

Improving broadband services for people struggling with poor connections is a top priority for the government – we want everyone to benefit from the digital revolution.

While we’ve helped make superfast speeds a reality for 19 out of 20 UK premises and are reaching thousands more each week, this scheme offers immediate assistance to those most in need.

The Government’s superfast broadband rollout continues as part of its Industrial Strategy to ensure all homes and businesses in Britain have access to high speed broadband by 2020.

And it has also introduced the Universal Service Obligation which will give everyone the legal right to request a connection to high speed broadband. Eligible consumers will be able to request a connection under the Universal Service Obligation by the end of 2019.

Improvements to the independence and the quality of audits are the focus of the CMA’s market study update.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published an update paper outlining serious competition concerns and proposing changes to legislation to improve the audit sector for the benefit of savers and investors alike. It is now putting these proposals out for public consultation.

Following the launch of its market study in October, the CMA has identified a number of reasons why it believes audit quality is falling short:

• companies choose their own auditors, and as a result we have seen too much evidence of them picking those with whom they have the best ‘cultural fit’ or ‘chemistry’ rather than those who offer the toughest scrutiny
• choice is too limited, with the Big Four audit firms conducting 97% of the audits of the biggest companies
• auditors’ focus on quality appears diluted by the fact that at least 75% of the revenue of the Big Four comes from other services like consulting

In order to address these concerns, the CMA is proposing legislation to: separate audit from consulting services; introduce measures to substantially increase the accountability of those chairing audit committees in firms, and impose a ‘joint audit’ regime giving firms outside the Big Four a role in auditing the UK’s biggest companies.

CMA Chairman Andrew Tyrie said:

Addressing the deep-seated problems in the audit market is now long overdue. Most people will never read an auditor’s opinion on a company’s accounts. But tens of millions of people depend on robust and high-quality audits. If a company’s books aren’t properly examined, people’s jobs, pensions or savings can be at risk.

The CMA will now consult on a number of proposals for robust reform. These intractable problems may take some years to sort out. If it turns out that the proposals are not far-reaching enough, the CMA will persist until the problems are addressed.

CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli also commented:

We have moved fast to come up with a comprehensive package of proposals for legislation, which we will now consult on. Successful reform of the audit market will require legislation, in combination with planned improvements to regulation as recommended by Sir John Kingman.

The reforms proposed by the CMA are:

A split between audit and advisory businesses

To get higher quality, auditors should focus exclusively on audit – not on also selling consulting services. One way of achieving this could be a structural break-up. But the international networks these firms belong to and the extent to which audit firms draw on expertise of those advising businesses would make this protracted and complex. A more immediate solution would be for audit and non-audit businesses to be split into separate operating entities. To be effective this will also require separate management, accounts and remuneration. That way auditors will only be rewarded for scrutinising an organisation’s accounts but will still be able to draw on expertise from other parts of the firm.

Regulatory scrutiny of auditor appointment and management

Audits are a legal requirement, to ensure that companies act in the interests of their owners rather than their managers. Given the relative lack of engagement by investors and owners of some of Britain’s largest companies, these companies should not be left to appoint their own auditors alone. The CMA proposes close scrutiny of audit appointment and management to make sure those appointing auditors are held to account and independent enough to choose the most challenging audit firm, rather than – for example – the cheapest.

Encouraging more choice

At present, many of the UK’s largest companies have little choice, given that one or more of the Big Four may be conflicted. Competition is weak. The CMA proposes that audits of the UK’s biggest companies (FTSE 350) should be carried out by at least 2 firms, at least one of which would be from outside the Big Four. This will give mid-tier firms access to the largest clients, allowing them to develop their experience and credibility, while also ensuring a cross-check on quality. A possible alternative is a market share cap – ensuring that some major audit contracts are only available to non-Big Four firms.

The CMA’s proposals only address some of the concerns in this sector. Sir John Kingman’s independent review addresses another: issues with current regulation. Today the government has announced a review of the purpose and scope of the audit more widely. It is already clear from the CMA’s work that a robust approach will likely be required here too.

The CMA now welcomes comments on its update paper by 21 January 2019.

Notes to editors

1. Market studies are carried out using powers under section 5 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA02) which allows the CMA to obtain information and conduct research. They allow a wide consideration of issues affecting the market. They can include a range of outcomes including recommendations to government, enforcement action and referral for market investigation.
2. The CMA welcomes views on its update paper by 21 January and hopes to conclude its work as soon as possible in 2019.
3. The Big Four audit firms in the UK are Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
4. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. For CMA updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
5. Media queries should be directed to: press@cma.gov.uk or 020 3738 6460.