Federal government scraps funding for winter homeless shelters in major cities
The federal government is ending its funding for homeless shelters in five major cities during the winter starting this year, the office of minister for Urban Policy Anneleen Van Bossuyt confirmed on Saturday.
An annual cold weather plan has made it possible to provide hundreds of additional beds for homeless people from November to March. While the majority of the funding comes from the regions, until now the federal government has also provided around a third.
Each year, the federal government allocated around 65,000 euros to public welfare centres in Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Ghent, and Liège. However, from next winter onwards, the government will stop providing this funding.
Local and regional jurisdiction
While pointing to "a thorough budget analysis", Van Bossuyt's office emphasised that the government is also complying with the division of powers.
"The Finance Inspectorate has been reminding us for several years that winter shelters fall under the jurisdiction of local and regional authorities, not the federal government," said the office.
Budgetary management
Van Bossuyt, who is also the minister for asylum and migration and social integration, emphasises that the decision does not call into question the importance of winter shelters. "It is intended to clarify responsibilities and ensure sustainable budgetary management," she said.
"The federal government remains willing to support cities and their institutional partners during the transition and in finding appropriate solutions, to ensure that nobody is left without support during the winter," she said.
Homeless people seek shelter in the hallway of the Porte de Namur metro station in Brussels in December 2024 © BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT
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