A former Coventry hostel worker said more money "will not cure underlying issues", after Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced his £442 million plan to get rough sleepers off the streets by Christmas.

Burnham said on Tuesday that emergency accommodation will be provided to end rough sleeping, alongside practical support for any health needs, as he did not believe "anybody should be forced to sleep rough".

Nobby Clarke, who ran Coventry Winter Night Shelter for seven years, told BBC Radio CWR that rough sleepers need more support than "just being thrown a set of keys to an empty premise".

Coventry City Council said that its rough sleepers team has more resources including mental health experts, and additional funding will "allow us to enhance support".

As well as providing immediate support to get people off the streets, government funding is designed to deliver more than 1,000 homes over the next three years to provide rough sleepers with permanent accommodation.

The funding will also provide "intensive wraparound support", typically psychiatric and drug and alcohol services, to help people rebuild their lives.

Clarke argued that rough sleepers need a filtered system instead, like night shelters, to enable them to be gently put into more permanent accommodation.

"What night shelters were able to provide was a sense of family – we would advocate for people and then try and put them through the right pathway," Clarke said.

He added: "If this is just pushing more money down the throats of agencies who are already involved in homelessness, it will only work when the money is around. It won't cure the underlying issues that people have.

"I have listened to a lot of council officers and politicians wax lyrical about how well they are doing statistically, and then you walk around the streets and there are still lots of people there."

West Midlands Combined Authority, which covers Coventry, will receive £5,500 million to be spent in 2026/27, as part of an Integrated Settlement.

Jim Crawshaw, Head of Housing and Homelessness at Coventry City Council, said they will be looking at where they can assure that there is an appropriate number of beds for rough sleepers in the city.

Crawshaw told BBC Radio CWR that the council's rough sleepers' team found eight people rough sleeping on Monday morning, and at the moment it expects there are around 25 people sleeping rough on any one night.

In March it was estimated that there were 64 people sleeping rough in Coventry, according to latest government figures. 7,541 people were estimated to be sleeping rough over the month in England.

The council's team has five assessment beds for rough sleepers available immediately, and B&Bs as well as hotels are used if necessary.

"It does happen that people who are accommodated for whatever reason fall back into substances or have another mental health episode. If they do then it is our aim is to get that support wrapped around them immediately", Crawshaw said.

He added that the additional funding will allow the council's rough sleepers team to enhance the support and accommodation offered.

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