THE MAYOR of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has called on the government to declare a homelessness emergency and embrace the city-region’s comprehensive plan to tackle rough sleeping as a national strategy.

Speaking today he said: "Last week Parliament voted, rightly, to declare a climate change emergency. But where is the declaration of a homelessness emergency?

“Surely, when hundreds are dying every year on British streets, that is exactly what is needed. People in doorways are in danger of being accepted as just an inevitable and unchangeable fact of modern life. It can’t be allowed to happen.

“This is a humanitarian crisis is of our own making – and entirely fixable. We need to approach it with a new mindset and a new urgency.”

Mr Burnham also revealed he is determined that Greater Manchester’s ground-breaking A Bed Every Night scheme, which support every person sleeping rough on the city-region’s streets, will be extended by 12 months.