When this snap election was called, political commentators said it would be about one issue only: Brexit. But that’s not quite how things have played out. In this blog I outline what the main parties have been saying about rough sleeping.

The number of people sleeping rough in England has more than doubled since more robust rough sleeping measures were introduced in 2010. In 2016, more than 4,000 people slept rough on any one night.

Rough sleeping is not inevitable. Lessons from the UK and around the world show that change is possible. As we outlined in an earlier blog, Finland has reduced its rough sleeping population to virtually zero by adopting a Housing First approach. This prioritises access to stable housing rather than first requiring rough sleepers to take up treatment to address other support needs. We’ve been calling for some time for a greater focus in Britain on this proven approach to tackling rough sleeping.

As the number of people sleeping on our streets continues to rise, now is the time for decisive action to end rough sleeping once and for all. That’s why we’ve teamed up with charities from across the homelessness sector to call on parties to commit to an ambitious new national initiative to end rough sleeping in England. Thousands of campaigners have tweeted using the #EndRoughSleeping hashtag.

So what have the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats said in response?

Labour has committed 4,000 homes for rough sleepers, as part of a new national plan to end rough sleeping within the next parliament. They have also committed to take action to tackle the root causes of homelessness, including safeguarding homeless hostels and other supported housing from cuts to housing benefit.

The Liberal Democrats have committed to end rough sleeping by increasing support for homelessness prevention and adequately funding emergency accommodation and supported housing, while ensuring that all local authorities have at least one provider of the Housing First model of provision for long term, entrenched homeless people.

The Conservative party has committed to halve rough sleeping over the course of the next parliament and eliminate it altogether by 2027. To achieve this, they have committed to set up a new homelessness reduction taskforce that will focus on prevention and affordable housing, and to pilot a Housing First approach to tackle rough sleeping.

Candidates will be taking part in general election hustings events around the country between now and election day. They’ll take questions from constituents about their party’s manifesto commitments and what they plan to do locally if they’re elected. To ask candidates what they’ll do to end rough sleeping, check this list to find an event near where you live.

Crisis is not a party-political organisation. We’re ready to work with the next government, whoever is elected to power on 8th June. Whatever the election outcome, however, it’s clear that ending rough sleeping will be high on the new government’s agenda.

Given these strong commitments, we’re also hopeful that we’ll see cross-party support on this issue. Let’s not forget it was the strong collaboration between parties that recently brought about the most transformative change to the homelessness legislation in forty years.

The new Homelessness Reduction Act, combined with political commitment and leadership from the next government to end rough sleeping, could finally bring about an end to this national scandal. That gets my vote