(Minister for Rough Sleeping and
Housing): Since the beginning of the pandemic, the
Government has worked closely with local authorities, charities
and health providers to offer accommodation to as many rough
sleepers as possible in order to help them stay safe during the
pandemic.
We have asked all local authorities to provide information on the
number of individuals they have accommodated. The information
provided is management information, not official statistics, and
local authorities continue to hold the most recent information.
This information submitted shows that since the start of the
pandemic, local authorities have accommodated 14,610 people. 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.
This is a truly remarkable achievement and has been possible
because of an incredible effort by the Government, local
authorities and charities.
In order to be transparent, we have today published the
management information received from local authorities which
provides a breakdown of this figure both inside and outside of
London.
This number should not be compared to the official autumn annual
snapshot of rough sleeping numbers because the data sets are not
comparable. A significant proportion of the 15,000 people
accommodated were not rough sleepers but have been housed in
order to prevent any risk of them sleeping rough during the
pandemic. The work local authorities have undertaken during the
pandemic has assisted many who were sleeping rough or living in
accommodation where they share sleeping spaces, for example in
hostels or night shelters, where they wouldn’t be able to fully
self-isolate. Local authorities have also housed those at risk of
rough sleeping, or who have presented to local authorities as at
risk of sleeping rough throughout this pandemic.
The Government has supported this vital work with £3.2 million
emergency funding as an initial first step, followed by funding
totalling £3.2 billion to local authorities to allow them to meet
local need during the pandemic, including protecting the most
vulnerable and rough sleepers.
We have also announced a further £433m to provide 6,000
long-term, safe homes to support thousand of rough sleepers
currently housed in emergency accommodation move on to more
sustainable accommodation.
The Government is now supporting local authorities on their next
steps plans to ensure accommodation arrangements can continue to
be managed safely to protect the most vulnerable, assessing
individuals’ needs in order to ensure as few people as possible
return to the streets. We have asked Dame Louise Casey to
spearhead this work through a new Covid-19 Rough Sleeping
Taskforce.
