Our response to the Prime Minister’s pledge to end rough sleeping
published on 20 Jul 2026
Andy Burnham MP announced in his first speech on becoming Prime Minister that a key priority for him will be to end rough sleeping.
We warmly welcome this commitment as The Salvation Army has long campaigned for an end to people being forced to sleep on our streets.
In England, this must include changing the ‘priority need’ system which is used to determine who has access to emergency accommodation and support. Our own research found that someone is turned away from this support every 17 minutes because they are not considered to be a priority.
Find out more about why we are calling for a change to ‘Priority Need’ here: https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/campaigning-and-policy/homelessness-policy/priority-need
