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Sadiq Khan calls for ‘urgent action’ to protect rough sleepers during winter
London mayor Sadiq Khan has hit out at the government’s “complacency and inaction” as he warns that rough sleepers may be forced to choose between sleeping on the streets or risking catching coronavirus in a night shelter this winter.
Mr Khan is calling on ministers to urgently publish guidance on making shelters “COVID-secure”, as well as to provide funding for alternative, self-contained accommodation.
In a letter to housing secretary Robert Jenrick, the London mayor said: “I am increasingly concerned at the complacency and inaction from the government at such a late stage in the year.
“Without a safe and robust plan, there is a real risk not only that all the positive work that we have all jointly done as part of the Everyone In programme will be undermined, but also that London will see soaring COVID-19 infection rates among rough sleepers spreading to the wider community as a result.”
Last winter, night shelters, which are mostly provided by faith and community groups in church halls and other buildings, accommodated roughly 700 people in the capital.
In August, Inside Housing reported that winter night shelter providers warned that they would have to “significantly” reduce the number of beds they provide this year due to social distancing measures.
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Mr Khan criticised the government for not yet publishing guidance on how these services can be run safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite one shelter having already opened its doors in the capital and the majority of others due to open over the next few weeks.
He said it is not clear whether the Greater London Authority (GLA) and London boroughs that commission shelters would be breaking the law due to the government’s coronavirus restrictions which forbid people from meeting in groups of larger than six.
In March, the government ordered all councils in England to find self-contained rooms for anyone sleeping on the street and since then more than 15,000 people have been temporarily housed in hotels or other emergency accommodation.
Influential medical journal The Lancet recently published a study which calculated that 266 lives were saved through these measures during the first wave of the pandemic.
Mr Khan called on the government to “fully fund local authorities and the GLA” to make this accommodation available again “so we can save lives this winter”.
He added: “If such funding is not forthcoming, the government will be knowingly exposing rough sleepers and support staff to much greater risk of infection than other sectors of the population.”
Commenting separately on the letter, Mr Khan said: “COVID-19 has impacted Londoners all across our city – but it is the most vulnerable who are most at risk of getting seriously ill or dying from the virus.
“It would simply be callous and inhumane to tell rough sleepers that the price of staying off the streets this winter could be catching COVID-19.”
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been approached for comment.
