Calls for Government to seize 'golden opportunity' to eradicate homelessness after coronavirus

When the outbreak was known to have hit British shores in March, the Government asked local authorities in England to house all rough sleepers and those in hostels and night shelters, with hundreds of people being put up in hotels in a bid to protect them from infection.

Since then, Labour said official figures demonstrated that more than 5,000 people had been taken off the streets.

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But concerns have been expressed that the funding made available to take homeless people was about to be withdrawn after a report from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), leaked to the Manchester Evening News, claimed the Government had “drawn a line” under the Everyone In scheme and would no longer stump up the money.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) denied funding was being withdrawn but Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Sheffield City Region mayor and Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis signed a letter, alongside other metro mayors, urging the Government to be clear on their plans for after the pandemic.

It comes as the Liberal Democrats warned councils were struggling to cope with the cost of homelessness, and a new report from a Commons committee said successful efforts to tackle rough sleeping during the Covid-19 pandemic risk being squandered if the Government fails to implement and fund a comprehensive exit strategy.

Statistics released yesterday showed that between October and December last year, the most recent period for which figures are available, some 3,350 households were assessed to be homeless in Yorkshire and the Humber, and a further 3,860 were threatened with homelessness.

An MHCLG spokesman said: “This Government is committed to ending rough sleeping. Councils should be proud of their efforts to get rough sleepers off the street – support from central Government has ensured 90 per cent of rough sleepers known to councils at the start of the pandemic have been offered accommodation.

“We’ve been clear councils must continue to provide safe accommodation - backed by an unprecedented £3.2bn package of government support.”

But the Labour letter said: “The dedicated funding to house rough sleepers is set to run out and no clear plans or resources have been put in place by Government for what happens next.”

It added: “This is an unprecedented opportunity to 'build back better' and avoid a return to business as usual. If the government is serious about its commitment to end rough sleeping, now is the time to act.”

It comes as the Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee (HCLG) committee today called on the Government to commit £100m per year in long term housing support or risk thousands of people currently in temporary accommodation returning to the streets.

Sheffield South East MP and committee chairman Clive Betts said: “It is simply not good enough for anyone to leave temporary accommodation and end up back on the streets. This isn’t just about protecting vulnerable people from Covid-19. It is not safe to live on the streets in any circumstances and it is not acceptable to allow it to return once the health crisis abates.

“In our report we have called on the Government to grasp the golden opportunity that has presented itself. For the first time in over a decade, rough sleepers have been comprehensively taken off the streets and given accommodation. This must become the new norm.”

The Government spokesman added: “Our new rough sleeping taskforce - spearheaded by Dame Louise Casey - has one overriding objective: to ensure that as many people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic do not return to the streets.

“It will work closely with councils and charities to give the long-term support they need to rebuild their lives and move into stable, long term accommodation.”

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