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£300k fund to help homeless people sleeping on public transport
The mayor of London has set up a rough sleeper outreach team as figures reveal the number of homeless people sleeping on public transport has soared.
Figures from Transport for London revealed there was a 121% leap in the number of homeless people sleeping on night buses in the winter of 2015/16 compared with the same period in 2012/13.
Sadiq Khan said a £300,000 fund will pay for an outreach team for 18 months to facilitate access to accommodation and support services for homeless people who sleep on night buses, tubes and trains. The team will be managed by homelessness charity Thames Reach.
This £300,000 fund is part of the £9m Mr Khan has committed to spending each year on rough sleeping services.
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The mayor’s office said the number of rough sleepers may rise in the short term as more people become known to the authorities as they seek support through the fund.
The new night-time transport team will work as part of the mayor’s London Street Rescue outreach team and focus on transport routes which homeless people are known to frequent, or that bus and tube drivers have referred the team to.
The teams will connect people with services including No Second Night Out, which provides three 24-hour assessment hubs.
Inside Housing investigated the rise in homeless people sleeping on London’s buses in 2011.
Mr Khan is due to launch his draft London Housing Strategy for consultation in early September.
He said: “My new night-time transport team will work across our buses and tubes to help people before they end up sleeping rough on the streets. I’ll continue to work closely with councils, homelessness organisations, and government to make sure there is a way off the street for every rough sleeper in London.”
Jeremy Swain, chief executive of Thames Reach and member of the mayor’s No Nights Sleeping Rough Taskforce, said: “I am thrilled that, through a partnership between the mayor and Transport for London, a new night transport outreach team has been funded which will be managed by Thames Reach.
“This gives us much-needed capacity to reach out to transient rough sleepers forced to travel the buses and tube system at night who deserve the same help and support to escape homelessness as the person sleeping rough in a shop doorway.”
