The video will start in 8 Cancel

What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

None of the Tories £100 million ‘boost’ for rough sleeping is new money, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire admitted today.

The Tory MP admitted around half had already been committed to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.

And he told the BBC’s Today programme the other £50 million was “reprioritisation” from within existing budgets - so will be paid for through cuts and ‘underspends’ elsewhere.

Last night, Brokenshire’s Parliamentary Private Secretary Chris Philp claimed it was all ‘new money’.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

He told the BBC’s Westminster Hour: “As I understand it, yes, this is new money, which is good news.”

Asked to confirm if the £100m announced today was all ‘new money’, he repeated: “Yes.”

On the same programme, Mr Philp also falsely claimed the number of rough sleepers is now lower than it was when the Tories came to power.

“That number is by the way lower than it was when the last labour government left office in 2010,” he said.

He admitted the figure had gone up in the last year, but claimed: “In recent years it’s been rising but it’s still lower than it was when Labour left office.”

This is untrue.

According to government figures, the number of people sleeping rough was estimated at around 1,768.

The most recent estimate for 2017 was 4,751 - a total estimated increase of 169% since the Tories came to power.

Estimated number of rough sleepers in England Department for Communities and Local Government

Labour's Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey MP said: "This is a feeble plan that lacks any urgency to tackle the crisis of rising rough sleeping.

“The scale of the problem is clear today but the Government’s target means waiting almost a decade to deal with this crisis."

poll loading Does the government pledge go far enough? 0+ VOTES SO FAR Yes No

He added: “The funding announced will barely register compared to the reckless Conservative cuts to affordable housing, social security benefits and homelessness services that have caused this crisis.

“If Ministers believed this was a serious plan they wouldn’t be burying it in mid-August."