. Urgent action is needed
to allow people to self-isolate
· Government
must set out a comprehensive plan to ensure that people facing
financial hardship aren’t forced into homelessness, backed by a
ringfenced emergency budget
Today, Monday 16th March, the Westminster
Government has published COVID-19 guidance for hostel or day
centre providers of services for people experiencing rough
sleeping.
National homelessness charity, Crisis, is deeply concerned that
the measures set out don’t go far enough. Crucially, the guidance
fails to include measures to enable people who are sleeping
rough, or living in shelters and hostels, to self-isolate.
People experiencing homelessness, particularly those rough
sleeping, are particularly vulnerable in this outbreak. They are
three times more likely to experience a chronic health condition
including asthma and COPD.
The charity is calling on national governments and local
councils to take emergency measures to ensure people experiencing
homelessness can access self-contained accommodation with private
bathrooms.
This should include assistance from national governments to
secure hotel style accommodation to meet the increased
need.
Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis,
said: “The guidance we have received to-date is
inadequate. It fails to set out a plan for how people
experiencing homelessness can self-isolate in this
outbreak.
“We need emergency action to protect people in this very
vulnerable situation – this must include testing and access to
housing. Let’s not forget that the average age of death of
someone who is homeless is 45, substantially lower than the
general population. Given the obvious vulnerability, the only
answer can be to provide housing that allows people to
self-isolate.”
Crisis is calling for the following measures to be taken as
a matter of urgency:
-
People sleeping rough and living in hostel and shelter
accommodation to have rapid access to healthcare
assistance and appropriate housing
-
Assistance from national
governments to secure hotel style
accommodation to meet the increased
need
-
Removal of legal
barriers so that anyone who is at
risk of, or is already homeless, can access self-contained
accommodation
-
Provide additional financial support through
the Universal Credit system to ensure people are
not pushed to the brink of homelessness
-
Protect renters from evictions
by temporarily suspending the use
of Section 21 and Section 8
evictions
The Westminster Government should ringfence a proportion of the
£5bn fund announced in the Budget last week to fight Covid-19 for
local authorities to help deliver these measures.
Crisis is also
calling for national governments and local councils
to ensure that frontline workers in
homelessness organisations are recognised as an emergency service
as part of their response to COVID-19.
Ends
-
Lewer D, Aldridge RW, Menezes D, et
al Health-related quality of life and prevalence of
six chronic diseases in homeless and housed people: a
cross-sectional study in London and Birmingham, England. BMJ
Open 2019;9:e025192.
doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025192 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/4/e025192
