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Councils warn government they cannot be left to foot coronavirus rough sleeping bill
Councils are calling on the government to provide “urgent clarity” over future funding for housing rough sleepers during the coronavirus crisis, amid fears they may be left to pick up the bill.
Inside Housing has spoken to multiple councillors who said they need a firmer commitment from government in order to develop long-term plans to house the thousands of rough sleepers who have been placed in emergency accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic.
Diarmaid Ward, executive member for housing and development at Islington Council, said: “We think there should be a national plan for more long-term solutions, but in the absence of one for the moment, we are thinking about what our own local plans are to make this long term...How can we do that if we haven’t got clarity over funding?”
Darren Rodwell, executive member for housing and planning at London Councils, said boroughs need “urgent clarity on the government’s planned next steps for funding and other support measures” for the thousands of rough sleepers currently living in hotels.
The comments come after a leaked internal report from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, obtained by Manchester Evening News, suggested the government would no longer fund councils to house rough sleepers beyond their statutory duties.
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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) strongly denied the reports and said any suggestion that funding is being withdrawn is wrong.
John Gray, deputy mayor at Newham Council, said he is currently taking the government on its word that funding was being maintained. He said: “The next stage is to look for us to work together and for them to confirm that this is the funding that we’re going to get over a period of time.”
He said the focus from government seems to have changed from “everyone in, we’ll pay for it, don’t worry”, to “councils make local decisions, they will be responsible for funding them”.
In March, the government allocated £3.2m to local authorities to help rough sleepers self isolate during the coronavirus lockdown.
Since then, the government has also provided £3.2bn in funding to councils. However, this money is to cover all council activities, with the government expecting some of it to be used to meet emergency accommodation costs.
Mr Gray said: “Be absolutely clear about this, if the funding [currently in place for housing rough sleepers] is removed or stopped, then we can’t continue to house people in expensive hotels and we haven’t got the accommodation or the money to give all the 177 rough sleepers that we’ve housed in Newham… full aftercare packages.”
Paul Smith, cabinet member for housing at Bristol Council, said: “The issue isn’t necessarily when the government decides to end the scheme or not, it’s when the hotels want their space back.”
London Councils is calling on the government to ensure the lifting of lockdown measures is sufficiently phased, to avoid a cliff edge when hotels return to commercial use.
A MHCLG spokesperson said: “It is simply wrong and misleading to suggest that we have stopped funding to keep rough sleepers off the street.
“We gave councils an initial payment of £3.2m at the start of the pandemic so they could take immediate action and help rough sleepers off the street. We have since given councils a further £3.2bn to deal with the immediate pressures they are facing, including supporting rough sleepers.”
