You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Khan tells councils to provide hotel rooms for rough sleepers as temperatures drop
Last night, councils in London were told to open emergency accommodation for rough sleepers for this first time this year as temperatures were forecast to drop below freezing.
Yesterday London mayor Sadiq Khan activated the Severe Weather Emergency Protocols (SWEP), which compel local authorities to work with charities to lay on shelter for people facing the night outside during very cold conditions.
Normally the accommodation provided is mainly communal night shelters, but the mayor has insisted that only self-contained accommodation, such as hotel rooms, may be used this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Local authorities were told to consider shared sleeping spaces only as a last resort when all options to provide self-contained rooms had been exhausted.
The Greater London Authority has argued that the government should provide increased funding to provide self-contained accommodation throughout the winter.
READ MORE
‘In for Good’ principles set out by City Hall and agreed by all boroughs mean that once a person has accessed SWEP shelter, they must be provided with accommodation until a support plan is in place to end their rough sleeping.
Mr Khan said: “Homelessness is an emergency whatever the weather – but the pandemic has compounded the risks faced by the most vulnerable Londoners.
“Local authorities, charities and others supporting homeless people have been working tirelessly throughout this crisis and will continue to do so as temperatures fall.”
After the COVID-19 outbreak in March, the government told councils to provide emergency accommodation for all rough sleepers in a bid to protect them from the virus.
But an effort on the same scale did not come forward during the second lockdown in autumn and rough sleeping experts have said the number of people on London’s streets is now at around the same level as before the pandemic.
