Nearly 15,000 rough sleepers have been housed in
emergency accommodation such as hotels since the
beginning of the crisis in order to ensure their safety.
This has presented what Dame Louise Casey – the head of
the COVID-19 rough sleeping taskforce – has called an
‘extraordinary opportunity’ to get them to engage with
services and rebuild their lives so that they don’t have
to return to the streets.
Many businesses, faith groups and charities from across
the country have already stepped forward to play their
part in this national effort. The YHA, YMCA and
universities have already offered temporary accommodation
for people as they leave the hotels and move towards more
permanent housing.
And today more partners are committing their support
including:
- Business in the Community, The Prince’s Responsible
Business Network, bringing together private sector
partners to support rough sleepers
- Both the ,
, and the
Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols,
highlighting the role that churches and faith groups
will play
- The Prince’s Trust exploring how best to provide
long-term employment and training support to help young
rough sleepers into work
- Comic Relief pledging to support the crucial work of
charities and frontline workers through Crisis and
Homeless Link
- St Martin-in-the-Fields charity putting £1 million
into a support package for people moving to longer term
accommodation
- Housing Justice joining forces with The Passage’s
‘Home for Good’ scheme to mobilise its network of
churches and other faith and community groups
Dame Louise Casey said she wanted to build on these
commitments to bring more partners to the table. Dame
Louise said:
It has been an incredible achievement to bring almost
15,000 homeless people into emergency accommodation. I
am truly grateful to the council staff, charity workers
and others that made that happen.
However this terrible crisis has also given us an
extraordinary opportunity to build on the success of
bringing ‘everyone in’ and to try to make sure they
don’t go back to the streets.
While government, councils and frontline charities are
all doing what they can, it’s clear that we will need
the whole of society to help too, whether that is youth
hostels offering rooms, businesses providing employment
opportunities, or faith and community groups reaching
out the hand of friendship.
We have seen the best of the British public and civil
society already in response to this crisis and we need
to keep that spirit going as we continue to help the
most vulnerable former rough sleepers stay safe inside.
said:
Rough sleeping is a tragedy that ought to belong in the
past. Everyone deserves access to safe and stable
housing; it is vital for human dignity, equality and
justice.
I am enormously proud of and grateful for the amazing
contribution churches across the country make in
supporting those who experience rough sleeping and
homelessness. I commend efforts to ensure that as we
slowly emerge from lockdown no one has to return to
rough sleeping and pray that they are successful.
Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols said:
In 2020 no person should be faced with the indignity of
being compelled to sleep on the street or the dangers
and challenges associated with doing so. I commend and
celebrate the work undertaken by our faith communities
and civil society.
Only by working together can we find just and permanent
solutions for the people who are homeless. I hope and
pray that the new momentum found during this crisis can
be sustained and will be successful.
Housing Secretary MP said:
Thousands of lives have been protected as a result of
the shared commitment to protect the most vulnerable in
our society throughout this national emergency, with
accommodation offered to over 90% of known rough
sleepers.
Looking forwards, we have now made £433 million of
government funding available to provide 6,000 safe and
sustainable homes for rough sleepers. As we move
towards the next steps in this process, support for
community partners will be vital in helping our new
taskforce. I can think of nobody better that Dame
Louise Casey to lead in and make the most of this
extraordinary opportunity to transform the lives of
rough sleepers.
Jonathan Townsend, UK Chief Executive of The Prince’s
Trust, said:
We know that getting a young person a job can help
break the cycle of poverty, homelessness and
disadvantage. The Prince’s Trust has been helping young
people into employment, education and training since
1976, and now this work is more crucial than ever.
Sadly, it is in times of crisis such as these that the
vulnerable in our communities become even more
vulnerable – which is why it is vital that government,
charities, employers and individuals work together, not
only to create a safety net for those most in need, but
to drive the recovery of society and our economy as a
whole.
Amanda Mackenzie, Chief Executive of Business in the
Community, the Prince’s Responsible Business Network,
said:
One thing which this pandemic has taught us is that
when government works in partnership with business and
charities, we can achieve things which we thought were
impossible.
Through the National Business Response Network – our
new, UK-wide service matching community needs to
business support – we can help the taskforce to make
sure that nobody has to go back onto the streets.
Together, we can end rough sleeping, once and for all.
Ruth Davison, Chief Executive of Comic Relief, said:
No one should face sleeping on our streets and it is
vitally important that we all work together to ensure
the rough sleepers being temporarily housed during the
pandemic are not forgotten. I welcome the fast action
of the Rough Sleeping COVID-19 Taskforce in bringing
together different organisations to help people into
long term accommodation.
Comic Relief is prioritising funding for Crisis and
Homeless Link who are providing both emergency and
urgent supplies, but also looking at the next stage of
support. These on-going programmes will help people
stay off the streets once the hotels and accommodation
they are using revert back to their original use.
Mick Clarke, Chief Executive of The Passage, said:
The Passage is proud of our work, in collaboration with
many other agencies, helping people off the streets and
into temporary accommodation. As the focus moves to
helping people stay off the streets, we are also proud
to work in partnership with Housing Justice volunteers
on our ‘Home for Good’ scheme nationally.
Everyone deserves to have a place they can call home.
Every one of us can play our part to help those coming
off the streets sustain that home; ‘Home for Good’ is
one way that those who care can get involved and do
just that.
Further information
Last month the Communities Secretary
appointed Dame Louise Casey
to spearhead a specialist taskforce to lead the
next phase of the government’s support for rough sleepers
during the pandemic.
The taskforce will work with local government, charities,
businesses, faith and community groups, and other public
sector partners across the country on plans to ensure
rough sleepers can move into safe accommodation once the
immediate crisis is over.
The taskforce will also ensure the thousands of rough
sleepers now in accommodation continue to receive the
physical and mental health support they need over the
coming weeks and months.
Almost 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in
emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the
start of the COVID-19 lockdown period, according to
returns from local authorities to MHCLG.
This includes people coming in directly from the streets,
people previously housed in shared night shelters and
people who have become vulnerable to rough sleeping
during the pandemic.
On 24 May, the Secretary of State announced funding for 6,000
new long-term housing units along with increased
government funding for support services for rough
sleepers.
