£28m announced to support vaccines and emergency shelter for people sleeping rough over winter
This morning the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced £28 million to provide funding to both encourage people who are homeless to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide emergency accommodation.
The figures for people rough sleeping has increased by 52% since 2010, according to recent analysis by the Homeless Link charity.
This new funding will be allocated to councils across England as part of the ‘Protect and Vaccinate’ scheme and is intended to help provide mobile vaccinations, supporting outreach work in shelters to educate people about the dangers of the virus, and giving money to councils to provide safe and secure accommodation.
Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive at Crisis, said: “This new funding is incredibly welcome and will help to protect the lives of people facing the most vulnerable circumstances this winter. With COVID cases rapidly rising in recent weeks, this is worrying for everyone but even more so for people on the streets. Through our frontline services we know that vaccination rates amongst people experiencing homelessness are particularly low. This could prove fatal for many when also coupled with other health issues and the physical impact of spending night and day on the streets in the freezing cold.
“As this additional support becomes available, it must be based on need, rather than if someone was born in the UK or not. We’d also need to see the default assistance provided to be self-contained accommodation rather than communal shelters wherever possible, alongside the offer of a vaccine. We know that this is already happening in many areas of the country but not all. This becoming the standard offer of support will ensure that lives are best-protected and that people are really able to benefit as a result.”
Responding to the Government’s announcement of the Protect and Vaccinate scheme to increase vaccination among people sleeping rough, Cllr David Renard, LGA housing spokesperson, said:
“People living on the streets are among the most vulnerable in society, with reduced ability to self-isolate safely and are less likely to access healthcare services, with many also having underlying health conditions.
“This funding will help councils build on existing local efforts to reach out to rough sleepers, and those who are at risk of homelessness in their areas, to ensure they can safely and easily receive a vaccination.”
The Homelessness Reduction Act, passed in 2017, provided a legal duty that should enable all homeless people to receive help from their local council. This homelessness legislation specified that councils must try to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place. Councils started delivering their new duties on 3 April 2018.
In Scotland, there has been no distinction between ‘priority’ and ‘non-priority’ homeless people since 2012. According to homeless charity ‘Crisis’, this gives people in Scotland some of the strongest homelessness rights in the world. Anyone who is homeless can go to their council for help and they should be provided with temporary accommodation.
