You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Minister indicates Everyone In funding will not increase during lockdown in letter to councils
A minister has said the government believes councils have enough support in place to assist homeless people throughout the winter and has failed to commit to a drive to ensure all rough sleepers are housed amid the latest COVID-19 lockdown.
The homelessness minister has indicated councils will not receive more funding to support homeless people despite a huge surge in COVID-19 cases #UKhousingInside Housing has seen a letter sent by the rough sleeping and housing minister Kelly Tolhurst to all council leaders on 30 December, in which she urged local authorities to “continue their excellent work to support people sleeping rough into safe accommodation”.
She said existing government funding, combined with conversations she had with local authorities, has given the government “confidence that you have the necessary support plans in place”, indicating the government has no plans to increase the level of funding available.
Ms Tolhurst added that councils should get in touch if they are struggling to provide people sleeping rough with the necessary support.
When asked by Inside Housing whether its approach had changed following the announcement of the national lockdown on 4 January, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) would not comment.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has released various funding streams to support councils in their efforts to house rough sleepers, including £91.5m to help councils fund their individual plans for homeless support over the coming months.
However, the homelessness charity Crisis has warned that funding is now being restricted to specific regions and people who are categorised as clinically vulnerable, creating barriers to support.
In response to the announcement of the latest national lockdown on Monday, the charity urged the government “to repeat the same level of support provided at the start of the pandemic and again ensure lives are saved”.
Read more
When coronavirus first hit the UK in March last year, the government’s former homelessness tsar Dame Louise Casey wrote to all councils in England ordering them to find self-contained accommodation for all rough sleepers within their area in the space of a few days.
In a scheme that became known as Everyone In, Dame Louise and former homelessness minister Luke Hall told councils to find accommodation for all people regardless of whether they legally had a right to support, for example due to their immigration status. Almost 30,000 people were supported as a result of the scheme, with many housed in emergency accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs and student accommodation.
While the government has said that the Everyone In scheme continues, hundreds of people have remained on the streets throughout the pandemic and charities have reported that rough sleeping numbers have returned to pre-COVID levels.
Housing lawyers and charities have also called on the government to provide more clarity on whether councils are still being expected to house all people on the streets regardless of their circumstances or immigration status.
In response to Monday’s lockdown announcement, the Housing Law Practitioners Association urged the government to put the Everyone In scheme on a formal footing so that councils are obliged to accommodate everyone at risk of rough sleeping, including those with no recourse to public funds.
Ms Tolhurst’s letter includes no reference to those with no recourse to public funds and no additional guidance has been published regarding what legal duties councils have to house rough sleepers during the latest lockdown.
An MHCLG spokesperson said: “We will do everything in our power to prevent people from finding themselves sleeping rough or homeless this winter, and that remains the policy of the government.
“The ongoing Everyone In campaign is protecting thousands of lives. We’ve housed 29,000 vulnerable people; including supporting 19,000 into settled accommodation or with move-on support. We’re ensuring councils and voluntary organisations have the tools and funding they need.
“We’re spending over £700m on homelessness and rough sleeping this year alone, including the £15m Protect Programme which provides extra support to areas that need it most and our £10m Cold Weather Fund. We’re investing a further £750m next year and will set out further measures to protect rough sleepers as soon as we can.”
Related stories
