A homelessness charity at risk of losing £2m in council funding has said it “will not be able to operate services” without additional support.
Two Saints receives £2m a year from Hampshire County Council for its social inclusion services.
But the local authority has proposed funding cuts to homelessness support services in March next year.
Two Saints said the charity was not in a position to share detailed information on job and services losses if the cuts went ahead.
“However, we are very clear that we would not be able to operate these services in our buildings with those staff without the funding,” said the charity.
“Which will inevitably lead to a rise in the number of rough sleepers as many of our clients across the county need support to work towards living independently.”
The proposed cuts come as HCC said it faced a £132m shortfall.
Two Saints said that in 2022/23, services funded by HCC supported more than 900 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Two Saints is an industrial and provident society and is exempt from registration with the Charity Commission.
Its latest accounts, for the year ending 31 March 2023, show it had an income of £18.3m and employed 274 people.
Hampshire County Council said it had “no choice but to consider changing or reducing services in some areas and propose options for savings”.
The council added it was not required by law to provide advice or help to people who are homeless.
“We do not receive funding from central government to do so,” said the council.
“This duty sits with district, borough, and city councils under the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.”
HCC said if it maintained current levels of spending it would put additional pressure on other statutory or critical services to deliver increased savings.
“Statutory services are those we are legally required to provide,” said the council.
“This may impact levels of service in these areas and our ability to operate within our budget.”