No veteran should have to sleep rough on the streets this Christmas, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said, as he prepares to write personally to councils across England asking them to draw up specific plans to offer accommodation to former service personnel.

Mr Burnham will send the letters on Armistice Day, 11 November, urging local authorities to work with charities and housing organisations to offer any veteran sleeping rough a place to stay and specialist support before Christmas. Announcing the move ahead of Remembrance Sunday, he said: "No one who has served our country should be left to sleep rough on our streets."

He said the principle should now guide the whole of government, national and local, and urged veterans sleeping rough, or those supporting them, to call a UK-wide helpline on 0800 9520774 for housing and specialist support.

The pledge is part of a wider commitment to offer everyone currently sleeping rough a bed this winter. Mr Burnham promised on his first day in Downing Street to end rough sleeping, and the government says it has committed a record £4.4 billion to the effort, including an additional £874 million announced since he took office.

To support the work with veterans, £8.7 million is being allocated to eight organisations across the United Kingdom, including in Scotland, Liverpool and Kent, through the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. Among them are Veteran Housing Scotland, Launchpad and SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, which help veterans with complex needs, including health and addiction problems.

The most recent official figures estimated that 4,793 people were sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 in England, a record high. The Liberal Democrats have argued that a one-off funding boost is not enough and that long-term solutions are needed.

[Source: gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/no-one-who-has-served-our-country-should-sleep-rough-on-our-streets) | [Source: theoldhamtimes.co.uk](https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/national/26709080.burnham-vows-specific-support-help-homeless-veterans-off-streets/?ref=rss)