Andy Burnham’s £874million vow to end rough sleeping by Christmas has been branded “nonsense” after a Manchester councillor said the Prime Minister left her city still battling a homelessness crisis. On Monday, Labour vowed to double the funding to tackle homelessness in England after the PM promised to give every rough sleeper a route off the streets by Christmas 2026.

But he made a similar vow in 2017 when mayor of Greater Manchester. Even though the number of rough sleepers a night fell from 268 to 90, that figure has now doubled to 197. Meanwhile, 9,589 people are sofa-surfing or in emergency accommodation. In July, Manchester rough sleepers told the Express there were not enough hostels, with Glaswegian Joseph McDowell, 63, bemoaning: “At night I sleep where I can. It’s dangerous. People p*** on you.”

Now Reform UK’s Sian Astley, who came second with more than 111,000 votes in the race to replace Mr Burnham as mayor, says the idea of sorting the issue nationally in just the few weeks before Christmas is “ridiculous” and “nonsense”. The Manchester city councillor, who represents Baguley, has visited the city’s rough sleepers and hostels but says getting them off the streets is sadly incredibly “complex”.

Ms Astley said: “I’m seeing with my own eyes the reality of the situation in Manchester and – excuse my French – the whole thing’s an absolute s***show. It’s a nonsense for Burnham to say that his policy on homelessness, whether that’s rough sleepers or whether that’s people in temporary accommodation, has been successful in Manchester.

“But I understand why he wants to spend £800million across England, because at the minute he’s been trumpeting about Manchester and about how brilliant Manchester is. I just think the whole thing is ridiculous.

“What really upsets a lot of them is they know they’ve got complex problems and they want to be helped. But people coming to the city such as migrants, who may not have drug problems or been repeatedly homeless in Manchester for 15 years, get helped because they’re seen as ‘easier to help’.”

Ms Astley also suggested that some people flock to Manchester, from abroad and within the UK, because they believe the hype of it being a “City of Sanctuary” that supposedly leads the way in tackling the issue.

She added: “People head to Manchester – you see that. People sitting on the desk at the town hall (see) people turning up with a suitcase, saying ‘we believe we can have a bed for a night’, or ‘we believe anybody in Manchester gets housed’.

“When I was doing some of the electoral paperwork, I was actually in the town hall reception, and a guy just walked in with a suitcase from Morecambe. He said he lost his accommodation in Lancashire and he’d come to Manchester, and could he have a flat?

“The staff dealt with it absolutely brilliantly, and he was quite amenable – they stressed that he returned to Lancashire. They weren’t being rude, just very practical.

I said to them, ‘how often does it happen?’ And they’re like ‘every day’. It has created massive problems because you get some into temporary accommodation, but more people keep pouring into the funnel.”

As a builder who previously starred on BBC One’s DIY SOS and the BBC Two series Your Home Made Perfect before going into politics, Ms Astley said not enough new social housing is being built for the homeless. She added: “There’s no housing. As a councillor, you get casework, and some emails – from people who are absolutely desperate – I just think, ‘I can’t help you’.

“There was a guy a few weeks ago who found himself homeless after a split-up. I helped him register as homeless on the housing, and it says ‘you will be contacted within three days’. It’s about a month ago, and nobody’s even got in touch with him. So, he’s living on his brother’s garage floor.

“Bev Craig, the new Mayor of Greater Manchester, understands the problems and is very switched on, but what’s she going to do about it? I don’t know.

“I look at mass immigration, the fact that Manchester is a sanctuary city. You cannot just keep pouring people into a city where there are 20,000 people on the housing register and 200 a night sleeping rough, 10,000 people registered homeless with half of them kids.”

Shadow Housing Secretary Katie Lam said rough sleeping had hit “record highs under Labour” and criticised Mr Burnham for failing to end rough sleeping when he was running the North-west of England region. Across England, recent official figures estimate there were 4,793 people sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025.

Homelessness organisations pointed to a lack of social housing, placing a strain on efforts to cut rough sleeping. When Greater Manchester mayor in 2018, Mr Burnham set up “a bed every night” scheme to offer emergency accommodation to those on the streets. It now provides more than 600 bed spaces, assigning teams to help rough sleepers find permanent housing, addiction support and other types of care.

It led to a drop in the number of rough sleepers in Greater Manchester from 268 in 2017, to 90 in 2021. But the figure has risen each year since then. Paul Dennett, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s lead for Housing First, blamed “austerity, welfare cuts, and the chronic undersupply of social housing” as major factors.

Professor Beth Watts-Cobbe, of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said while numbers had gone up, Greater Manchester still compares “really favourably to the national picture”. Asked about his previous attempts to end rough sleeping in Manchester, Mr Burnham accepted that people were coming to the city to seek a roof over their head.

He said: “I bring the learning from that to this. The reason why the figures went back up is because we were the only place that was offering a bed every night, so people came to Greater Manchester knowing that we were providing a higher level of support … I realised that it’s only if everywhere does it at the same level that you can actually end rough sleeping.”

Ex-pro basketballer Jerelle “Jefe” Okoro, 35, has been helping feed the homeless across Greater Manchester with his Jefe’s Ramen pop-ups – where he encourages people to buy one ramen dish and donate another to feed rough sleepers. Having been homeless himself, the kind-hearted volunteer knows the struggle of finding a hot meal and has been urging local pubs and charities to get on board and grow his initiative.

His most recent night sold more than 50 bowls of ramen – meaning 50 meals for the homeless – and lifted footfall at the pub where he did the pop-up by 40%, thereby boosting their takings too.

Jefe, a former professional basketball player for Leicester Riders, told the Express: “I think Mr Burnham is doing his best trying to highlight the issues. A lot of people think this is a battle that he is using to champion his position and make him look more relatable. He has been trying to put the focus on how some of these numbers are.

“Unfortunately, it’s a problem that we have to work together to fix. If the problem isn’t acknowledged, then it doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t exist, it can’t be attacked.

“I think the shift will happen when the UK realise that a lot of issues will only change when we, as the people, stand and choose to make a difference ourselves. I hope Jefe’s Ramen is a catalyst for more people understanding that we need to work together to fix this and there are solutions if we work together.”

Jefe’s Ramen is a community interest company (CIC), meaning it is run in the interest of benefitting the community, not to generate profits.

He added: “I’ve been on the other side of this. I can’t ignore what I saw and experienced. Every city has a pub with a quiet night and a kitchen doing nothing, and every city has people with nowhere to sleep.”

In July, homeless mother-of-three Michelle Benjamin, 34, told the Express she had been living on the streets of Manchester since December, having previously worked in sales and cafes. She said then that Mr Burnham needed to “open his eyes” to the reality of homelessness in his own city before thinking he could solve it for the rest of England.

ANDY BURNHAM’S VOW TO END ROUGH SLEEPING IN ENGLAND BY CHRISTMAS EXPOSED AS ‘NONSENSE’ — CAN THE PROMISE BE DELIVERED?

A bold political promise to end rough sleeping in England by Christmas has sparked debate over homelessness, housing affordability, and the ability of politicians to turn ambitious pledges into practical results. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester and a prominent Labour figure, is associated with efforts to tackle homelessness and improve access to housing. However, any claim that he has personally promised to eliminate rough sleeping across the whole of England by Christmas needs to be checked against his original statement and its precise wording.

The controversy highlights a much wider question facing British politics: how realistic is it to promise an end to rough sleeping when thousands of people face insecure accommodation, rising living costs, and barriers to accessing support?

For people sleeping on the streets, Christmas is not simply a political deadline. It is a period when cold weather, isolation, and the absence of a safe place to sleep can make an already difficult situation even more dangerous.

The challenge is therefore not merely to announce an ambitious target, but to establish whether the necessary housing, funding, support services, and implementation plans are in place to achieve it.

The Difference Between a Promise and a Deliverable Plan

Political leaders frequently announce ambitious targets to demonstrate their commitment to solving difficult social problems. Ending rough sleeping is an objective that attracts widespread support because sleeping outdoors exposes people to serious risks and undermines their health, safety, and dignity.

However, the phrase “end rough sleeping” can mean different things.

It might refer to reducing the number of people sleeping on the streets to a very low level, preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place, ensuring that nobody has to sleep outside for an extended period, or providing a permanent housing solution for everyone currently experiencing homelessness.

These objectives require different resources and different measures of success.

A pledge to end rough sleeping by a particular date should therefore explain what outcome is being promised, how progress will be measured, and what arrangements will prevent people from returning to the streets.

Without these details, a deadline can become a political slogan rather than a workable public policy.

The criticism that such a promise is “nonsense” should itself be assessed carefully. It is a strong political judgement, not proof that a policy cannot succeed. Establishing whether a target is realistic requires examining the available evidence, the scale of the problem, and the resources committed to addressing it.

Why Rough Sleeping Remains a Serious Problem

Rough sleeping is the most visible form of homelessness, but it is only one part of a much wider housing crisis.

Some people lose their accommodation following the breakdown of a relationship. Others experience financial difficulties, unemployment, eviction, domestic abuse, or problems leaving institutions such as hospitals or prisons.

Mental health difficulties and substance dependence can also contribute to housing instability for some individuals, particularly when appropriate support is difficult to access. However, rough sleeping does not have a single cause, and people experiencing homelessness should not be reduced to stereotypes.

The availability and affordability of housing are also crucial factors.

When rents rise faster than incomes, people on low wages may struggle to maintain a tenancy. A sudden loss of employment or an unexpected bill can push a household into financial difficulty, especially when savings are limited.

For people who already face multiple disadvantages, finding another home can be particularly difficult. They may need help obtaining identification, securing benefits, managing debts, accessing healthcare, or rebuilding contact with family members.

These circumstances explain why simply providing a temporary bed may not be enough. Lasting solutions often require a combination of stable housing, personalised support, and measures to prevent people from becoming homeless again.

Can Rough Sleeping Really Be Ended by Christmas?

The feasibility of a Christmas deadline depends on several factors, including the number of people sleeping rough, the supply of suitable accommodation, the capacity of local authorities, and the availability of support services.

A government or mayor can organise emergency accommodation, expand outreach teams, coordinate public agencies, and direct funding towards vulnerable people. These measures can make a meaningful difference.

However, providing a bed for one night is not the same as resolving homelessness.

If a person leaves emergency accommodation without a suitable long-term option, they may return to the streets. Similarly, a temporary reduction in the number of people sleeping outdoors does not necessarily mean that the underlying problem has been solved.

A credible strategy would need to establish how people will move from the streets into secure accommodation, how individual support needs will be addressed, and how new cases of rough sleeping will be prevented.

It would also need to distinguish between emergency measures that can be implemented quickly and structural changes that require sustained investment.

A Christmas deadline may provide a useful sense of urgency, but it cannot replace a detailed delivery plan.

What Is Andy Burnham’s Role?

Andy Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester, not the mayor of England. His responsibilities and powers are therefore different from those of the UK government and the national institutions responsible for housing and homelessness policy.

As mayor, Burnham can work with local authorities, housing providers, charities, and other organisations to coordinate regional initiatives. He can also advocate for additional resources and support policies designed to reduce homelessness across Greater Manchester.

However, a promise concerning every person sleeping rough in England would involve a much broader geographical area and many organisations outside his direct authority.

Any assessment of the pledge must therefore establish whether it was intended to apply to Greater Manchester, to a specific group of people, or to England as a whole.

This distinction is important because political headlines can sometimes simplify a statement in ways that change its meaning.

Before concluding that Burnham has made an unrealistic national promise, readers should examine the original remarks, the context in which they were delivered, and the precise responsibilities attached to the proposed target.

The Financial Cost of Ending Rough Sleeping

Providing safe accommodation and support requires public investment, but the financial consequences of homelessness extend beyond housing services.

People sleeping outdoors may require emergency healthcare, crisis intervention, and repeated assistance from public agencies. Preventing homelessness and helping people obtain stable accommodation may reduce some of these pressures, although the scale of any savings depends on how services are delivered and the circumstances of the individuals involved.

A serious plan would need to identify the cost of emergency accommodation, the availability of long-term housing, and the resources required for support workers and prevention programmes.

It should also explain how responsibilities will be divided between central government, local authorities, housing associations, charities, and other service providers.

Without reliable funding, even well-designed programmes can struggle to deliver lasting results.

At the same time, spending more money does not automatically guarantee success. Funding must be directed towards effective interventions, and outcomes should be independently assessed.

The relevant question is not simply how much a government spends, but whether that expenditure helps people secure and maintain safe homes.

What Would a Credible Strategy Look Like?

A practical approach to ending rough sleeping would combine immediate assistance with long-term prevention.

First, outreach teams should be able to identify people sleeping outdoors and connect them with suitable accommodation and support.

Second, emergency shelters must provide safe conditions, particularly during severe winter weather. However, emergency beds should be treated as a temporary safeguard rather than the final objective.

Third, people need access to stable housing. Depending on their circumstances, this could involve social housing, supported accommodation, private rented housing, or specialist services.

Fourth, local authorities need effective systems for identifying people at risk of homelessness before they lose their homes. Early intervention can sometimes prevent a housing crisis from developing.

Finally, progress should be measured transparently. The public should be able to see how many people have moved into accommodation, how many have remained securely housed, and how many have returned to rough sleeping.

These measures would make it easier to distinguish genuine improvements from short-term changes in the number of people visible on the streets.

Why the Debate Matters Beyond Politics

Homelessness is often discussed through the language of targets, spending announcements, and political disputes. Yet behind every statistic is a person facing the practical challenge of finding somewhere safe to sleep.

People experiencing rough sleeping may have lost contact with relatives, experienced repeated rejection from landlords, or spent months trying to obtain appropriate support.

For them, the success of a policy is measured not by the strength of a ministerial speech but by whether they can access a safe home and maintain it.

Public accountability is essential, but it should serve the objective of improving people’s lives rather than becoming an end in itself.

Politicians should be challenged when their promises lack clear plans, realistic timetables, or sufficient resources. Equally, effective programmes should be assessed fairly, with attention paid to measurable results rather than political affiliation.

Conclusion: Ambition Must Be Matched by Evidence

The claim that Andy Burnham has vowed to end rough sleeping in England by Christmas raises important questions about political promises, homelessness policy, and the responsibilities of public leaders.

However, the precise wording and geographical scope of the alleged pledge must be verified before it can fairly be described as an unrealistic commitment.

What is clear is that ending rough sleeping requires more than a headline-grabbing deadline. It requires emergency accommodation, sufficient housing, effective prevention, coordinated public services, and sustained support for people facing complex challenges.

A Christmas target could provide a focus for urgent action, but its credibility depends on a transparent plan and measurable outcomes.

The real test is whether people who are sleeping outdoors can move into safe, stable accommodation and remain there after the deadline has passed.

Ultimately, tackling rough sleeping should be judged by the lives improved, the homes secured, and the number of people prevented from returning to the streets. Political promises matter, but delivering lasting results matters considerably more.