Taking Our Campaign to Westminster

Posted: 15 April 2026 10:48 am.

This month, Dave Smith, CEO, and Sarah Shorrock, Assistant Director of Transformation, travelled to Westminster to meet with Paula Barker MP, Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ending Homelessness.

Paula has been a strong voice on housing in Parliament, particularly around affordability in the private rented sector, including calls for rent controls highlighted in her recent Inside Housing article.

The meeting was an important opportunity to present our campaign to end homelessness and our 5 Key Asks. Drawing on our frontline experience, we shared insight from our services, data, and the lived experiences of the people we support to evidence both the scale of the challenge and the solutions needed.

A key focus of the discussion was affordability, particularly the growing gap between Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates and rising rents, which continues to push more people into homelessness and limit access to stable housing.

We also explored the wider systemic changes needed to prevent homelessness, including earlier intervention, improved access to housing, and stronger partnership working. Our campaign sets out a clear, practical roadmap for achieving this.

Encouragingly, Paula was very supportive of our approach and keen to continue working with us. She expressed interest in further engagement through the APPG and in visiting our services to see the impact of our work firsthand.

This meeting marks another positive step in raising awareness of our campaign at a national level. By continuing to work with partners and policymakers, we believe it is possible to drive the change needed to end homelessness for good.

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