Writing in The Guardian, the Prime Minister promised he would mount a Covid-style campaign to get everyone off the streets by Christmas, while pledging another £100 million to end street homelessness.

It follows his first speech in office, which was used to launch an urgent drive to end rough sleeping in England at the earliest opportunity, backed from day one by an additional £340m.

Responding to the announcement, Homeless Network Scotland’s head of policy and impact, Matt Hamill, said: “The Prime Minister’s announcement of course relates to England and there is much to clarify on how it will work in practice and what it will mean for Scotland in terms of potential funding via the Barnett formula.

“But as a statement of political intent, this is a positive reminder that Andy Burnham intends to place homelessness and rough sleeping in England at the very top of his agenda.

“Ahead of the new parliamentary session, we urge the Scottish Government to commit to the same sense of urgency to help drive forward the solutions we know can end homelessness for good, rather than responding to it for one winter. That means scaling up proven solutions such as Housing First, placing prevention and joined up services at the heart of Scotland’s response to homelessness, and increasing the supply of social housing so that everyone has a safe settled place to call home.

“The Scottish Government has rightly declared a housing emergency. Ministers in Holyrood must now show that Scotland intends to match Andy Burnham’s urgency with a response that reflects the scale of that emergency.”