The Mayor of London, , has today activated the
pan-London Severe Weather Emergency Protocols (SWEP) to protect
homeless people as temperatures are forecast to fall below 0°C
tonight.
The activation of SWEP compels councils across London (alongside
homelessness charities) to open emergency accommodation for
people who are sleeping rough during weather conditions that
could pose a threat to life.
This year the Mayor has also invested £800,000 in new
homeless accommodation at a hotel in east London. Whilst
London’s boroughs will be providing over 500 SWEP beds this
winter, the new hotel will act as overflow accommodation,
offering a further 66 rooms for rough sleepers across London. A
further boost to pan-London capacity is expected in the new year
to take the total number of SWEP places to more than 600 for the
first time.
The Mayor will spend a record £1.25m on SWEP services alone this
year as well as working with the charity Housing Justice to
provide grants to COVID safe winter shelters to assist them with
long term solutions to those who access these crucial
services. All London councils have also committed to
implementing the Mayor’s ‘In for Good’ principle, meaning that
once someone has accessed SWEP accommodation, they are
accommodated until a support plan is in place to end their rough
sleeping - regardless of whether the temperature has risen above
freezing.
To avoid the risk of Covid infections, the Mayor has asked
boroughs that only single-occupancy accommodation such as hotel
rooms be used for SWEP provision.
Since the start of lockdown, 11 per cent of all rough sleepers
have been under the age of 25, with a 48 per cent increase seen
in the period July to September 2020 (according to the GLA/St
Mungo’s CHAIN quarterly report) compared to the same period in
2019. The number of young women rough sleeping doubled over the
same period and the number of young homeless people who identify
as LGBTQ+ remains disproportionately high. This year, the Mayor’s
Winter Fundraising Campaign is once again raising funds for four
charities working with young homeless Londoners:
Depaul, akt, Centrepoint and New Horizon Youth Centre.
Since 2016, working closely with local authorities and the
Government, the Mayor’s rough sleeping services have
helped over 12,000 rough sleepers, with the number of people
sleeping on the street falling by 26 percent. Government
data shows that in the last year alone, the number of rough
sleepers in London has fallen by 37 percent.
The Mayor of London, said: “Once again
far too many people are facing a cold Christmas on the streets of
the capital, without the safe, secure accommodation that should
be the basic right of every Londoner.
“Across London, we will do everything we can to protect rough
sleepers in these freezing conditions. I know London’s councils
and charities will also be working tirelessly over the weekend to
help the most vulnerable amongst us and I thank them for their
efforts.”
Notes to editors
This is the second time SWEP has been activated this winter. The
first activation was on the weekend of 27/28 November.
Online donations to the Mayor’s fundraising campaign can be made
here: https://www.taplondon.org/donate
Since winter 2017/18, the GLA has provided guidance for London’s
councils regarding local SWEP plans. This guidance, which has
been agreed by all 33 London councils, introduced a trigger point
for pan-London SWEP activation of 0°C on any one night to ensure
consistency across the capital.
