Government action in response to coronavirus and provision for homeless people

The overall response from government has so far been mixed, here's a quick outline of the position each government has taken:

In an unprecedented move, the Westminster government has written to local authorities in England asking them to house all people sleeping rough, and those in hostels and night shelters, by the weekend.

In a letter sent to homelessness managers and rough sleeping coordinators in every local authority yesterday, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said:

“As you know, this is a public health emergency. We are all redoubling our efforts to do what we possibly can at this stage to ensure that everybody is inside and safe by this weekend, and we stand with you in this. These are unusual times so I’m asking for an unusual effort. Many areas of the country have already been able to ’safe harbour’ their people which is incredible. What we need to do now though is work out how we can get ‘everyone in’.”

Responding to this news, Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “The Government’s insistence that everyone sleeping rough should be housed by the weekend is a landmark moment – and the right thing to do."

The Westminster Government have also committed to realigning Local Housing Allowance rates back to the bottom third of market rents for the next twelve months. This will come into effect across the whole of the UK from 1st April. We will continue to lobby the Westminster Government for greater protections for people with No Recourse to Public Funds, more funding for local authorities to help people who are struggling with their rent and more support through the Universal Credit system - these measures would have effect in England, Scotland and Wales.

In Wales, the government is managing a coordinated approach and have made £10m available to support the response, they're also stepping up their activity to ban evictions at this time.

The Scottish government are still yet to tell local authorities what to do, as a result, this has led to some confusion in terms of a local response. As an organisation we're working to better understand the exact situation in Scotland before we push for further action.

If you'd like any more information about anything you've read, please get in touch with us at philanthropy@crisis.org.uk

Article date: 27.03.20