Posted 28.05.20
UK.GOV: Further reading
Plans to provide thousands of long-term, safe homes for vulnerable rough sleepers taken off the streets during the pandemic have been unveiled by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick.
This commitment will be backed by £160 million this year and will support many of the thousands?of rough sleepers currently housed in emergency accommodation to move on to more sustainable, long-term housing.
By accelerating support already announced?for rough sleeping services, this latest funding will ensure that 6,000 new housing units will be put into the system, with 3,300 of these becoming available in the next 12 months.??
In addition to accelerating this capital spend for investment in housing stock, the government is also increasing the revenue support of the total programme by 37%, to make sure that the rough sleepers have the support they need to stay off the streets.
Once in their new home, they will be supported by specialist staff to access the help they need, so they can rebuild their lives.
Homes England, in partnership with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has pledged to work hand-in-hand with leading housing associations and local authorities to fast-track thousands of units of longer-term accommodation for rough sleepers.
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Posted 20.05.20
Groundswell: Further reading
Groundswell has launched the the third of a series of briefings that outlines what it is hearing through its routine work, conversations with its #HealthNow network, from logging any concerns it hears through daily diaries and telephone interviews with people experiencing homelessness.
Key issues heard about include:
The research aims to ensure the voices of people who are homeless are heard and are utilised to inform the ongoing response to COVID-19 both locally and nationally.
The above link gives access to the full research briefing.
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Posted 19.05.20
Mayor of London: Further reading
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is making available a £40 million fund to allow homelessness hostels and women's refuges to make their facilities safer for residents during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Mayor's 'Homelessness Change' programme will fund works to remodel existing hostels to make it easier to maintain social distancing and self-isolation, ensure bathroom facilities aren't shared and help slow any spread of the virus between hostel residents.
A recent survey of the suitability of London's hostels in the Covid-19 era found that 4% of bedspaces in the hostels that responded were in shared rooms and around half of residents shared bathroom facilities with other people.
The Homelessness Change programme supports creative and innovative responses to London's homelessness crisis by supporting the refurbishment, remodelling or new build of hostels for homeless people, refuges for victims of domestic abuse or shared accommodation for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
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Posted 15.05.20
Manchester Evening News: Further reading
A report in the Manchester Evening News claims that hundreds of homeless people who had been put up in hotels during the coronavirus pandemic must now be moved, out after ministers quietly pulled the plug on the programme.
The paper says civil servants have told Greater Manchester officials that the scheme - known as 'Everyone In' - is no longer being funded by central government and that March's original Covid guidance to local authorities has been scrapped.
So far, 1,600 homeless people with nowhere to self-isolate have been put up in emergency accommodation in Manchester during the crisis, as authorities were directed to protect them from the spread of the virus.
The article reports that a leaked report to the region's combined authority reveals the Ministry for Communities, Housing and Local Government has now 'drawn a line' under its programme and has told councils it will no longer be funded.
The government denies reneging on its commitments, but that Greater Manchester sources spoken to by the Manchester Evening News said it had been made clear the current scheme was now being wrapped up.*****
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