Support for homelessness during the winter months

Aaron Kulakiewicz; Hannah Cromarty

Winter provision for rough sleepers

Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP)

The winter period presents the greatest health risks to those who are homeless and sleeping rough. In periods of severe cold weather local authorities, working with homelessness charities, normally provide emergency shelters for rough sleepers in line with the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP).

SWEP is a local emergency response to a heightened risk. There is no legal requirement for local authorities to provide shelter during severe weather and there is no single definition of severe weather. The charity Homeless Link has published SWEP guidance to help local authorities and their partners develop suitable responses.

Historically, SWEP provision was triggered when the night time temperature was forecast to be zero degrees Celsius or below for three consecutive nights. Many local areas now take a more pragmatic approach, for example, the pan-London SWEP is activated when the temperature is forecast to be below zero on any one night.

This year, local authorities’ winter planning needs to ensure that rough sleepers are safeguarded against both severe weather and the risks posed by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Many of the accommodation options previously used for SWEP may now be unsuitable due to their communal nature.

Homeless Link has published a research briefing on Planning for SWEP in winter 2020-21 (November 2020), which considers the capacity of local areas to implement SWEP in winter 2020/21 in light of the pandemic.

Government support

The UK Government has put in place a package of measures in England to support rough sleepers, and those at risk of rough sleeping, during the coronavirus outbreak, including an ‘Everyone In’ initiative, a Next Steps Accommodation Programme and a Protect Programme.

In October 2020, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced further support to protect rough sleepers over the winter:

A £10 million Cold Weather Fund to support local authorities to provide self-contained and Covid-secure accommodation.
£2 million to enable faith and community groups to provide Covid-secure accommodation.
Operating guidance to the sector to help night shelters open more safely, as a last resort and where not doing so would endanger lives.

Comment

The Government’s decision to allow winter night shelters for rough sleepers to reopen as a last resort is controversial. Eighteen leading health and homelessness organisations, including the British Medical Association and the Faculty of Public Health, wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister (October 2020) warning of the double threat of coronavirus and cold weather to rough sleepers, and urging the Government to provide self-contained accommodation as a priority due to the high risk of coronavirus transmission in communal night shelters.

The Chief Executive of Crisis, Jon Sparkes, said the decision to reopen winter night shelters was “completely unacceptable”:

We must not force people to choose between freezing on the street or a shelter, when both needlessly put lives at risk. We urgently need the government to see sense on this matter and keep winter night shelters closed. They must instead provide councils with the crucial funding they need to provide everyone forced to sleep rough with safe, self-contained accommodation, as they did in March. Anything but this is risking lives.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called on the Government to “supply appropriate funding as a matter of urgency to ensure nobody is left on the streets during freezing conditions.”

Further information

The House of Commons Library briefing paper Coronavirus: Support for rough sleepers (England) examines the measures taken in England to support rough sleepers, and those at risk of rough sleeping, during the coronavirus outbreak.

Housing policy is a devolved area. The paper also outlines the key measures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to protect rough sleepers during the pandemic.

The Local Government Association has published a briefing for the debate: (14 December 2020).

Briefings on homelessness and rough sleeping

The following House of Commons Library briefing papers provide further information about homelessness and rough sleeping:

Households in temporary accommodation (England) (November 2020)
Statutory Homelessness in England (November 2020)
Rough Sleeping (England) (April 2020)
Rough sleepers: access to services and support (England) (October 2019)
Housing first: tackling homelessness for those with complex needs (July 2018)

The Scottish Parliament Information Service has published a briefing on Homelessness in Scotland (November 2019).

The Welsh Parliament Research Service (Senedd Research) has published Coronavirus: homelessness (July 2020) and What’s being done to end homelessness in Wales? (November 2019).

The Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service has published The many faces of homelessness in Northern Ireland (March 2017) and What do we know about homelessness in Northern Ireland? (June 2016).

UK Parliament Material

Committee Material

The House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee published an interim report on its inquiry to assess the impact of the coronavirus crisis on homelessness, rough sleeping and the private rented sector on 22 May 2020.

The Government’s response to the Committee report was published on 25 June 2020.

Parliamentary Questions

Hostels and Night Shelters

07 Dec 2020 | 123622

Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of shelter beds that will be available in (a) hostels and (b) emergency night shelters during winter 2020-21.

Answering Member: Kelly Tolhurst | Department: MHCLG

Homeless Link provide information on the number of hostels in their annual review of single homelessness – https://www.homeless.org.uk/facts/our-research/annual-review-of-single-homelessness-support-in-england.

The Department are monitoring the opening of shelters. Our expert rough sleeping advisers are working closely with local authorities to monitor the plans of shelter providers across the country and ensuring that they offer Covid-secure services, should their local authority deem it necessary for them to open.

We are working closely with all local authorities to ensure that they have the necessary winter provision available.

Homelessness: Coronavirus

07 Dec 2020 | 123623

Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many hotel rooms have been provided to accommodate homeless people in each of the last 10 months in England.

Answering Member: Kelly Tolhurst | Department: MHCLG

This Government has protected thousands of lives during the pandemic with targeted support to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities from Covid-19.

We have published data in May and September this year on the numbers in emergency accommodation who had previously been rough sleeping or were at risk of rough sleeping. This is available publicly online. By September, through the ‘Everyone In’ campaign, we had supported over 29,000 vulnerable people with over 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 provided with settled accommodation or move on support. Emergency accommodation provided includes commercial hotels, B&Bs, hostels and other forms of self-contained temporary accommodation. Further information on the type of accommodation is not available.

This work is ongoing. Local authorities continue to support vulnerable individuals, including through the Next Steps Accommodation Programme, which aims to prevent as many of those accommodated during the pandemic as possible from returning to the streets, and through the Protect Programme, which targets funding to the areas that most need additional support throughout winter.

Homelessness

25 Nov 2020 | 116440

Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support rough sleepers and other people experiencing homelessness in winter 2020-21.

Answering Member: Kelly Tolhurst | Department: MHCLG

As we move into the winter months, we recognise the upcoming challenges that local authorities are facing as a result of the pandemic.

The ‘Protect Programme’, the next step in the ongoing targeted support to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities from COVID-19, was announced by the Prime Minister on Thursday 5 November.

This scheme will provide a further £15 million to support the ongoing efforts to provide accommodation for rough sleepers during the pandemic. This programme will help areas that need additional support most during the restrictions and throughout winter and is on top of the previously announced £10 million Cold Weather Fund for all councils, giving local areas the tools they need to protect people from life-threatening cold weather and the risks posed by COVID-19.

This builds on the success of the still ongoing ‘Everyone In’ campaign, which is helping to protect thousands of lives during the pandemic – by September it had supported over 29,000 vulnerable people, with over 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 provided with settled accommodation or move on support.

Sleeping Rough: Coronavirus

12 Nov 2020 | 113121

Asked by: Neil Coyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Cold Weather Fund to support councils get rough sleepers off the streets will be available; and how that funding will be distributed in London.

Answering Member: Kelly Tolhurst | Department: MHCLG

The Government recently announced a new £10 million Cold Weather Fund to support councils in helping rough sleepers off the streets during the winter by assisting them in providing more self-contained accommodation. We have written to local authorities to set out how they can access the Cold Weather Fund. Applications should be made by 4 December.

We have also announced a £15 million Protect Programme to support the ongoing efforts to provide accommodation for rough sleepers during the coming winter months. This programme will help areas that need additional support most during the restrictions and throughout this period. London is one of the areas to receive support under the Protect Programme.

This is alongside an additional £2 million for faith and community groups to help them provide COVID-19 secure winter accommodation for rough sleepers, and comprehensive guidance to the sector, produced with Public Health England, Homeless Link and Housing Justice to help shelters open more safely, where not doing so would endanger lives.

Night Shelters: Coronavirus

04 Nov 2020 | 109384

Asked by: Neil Coyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department’s guidance entitled Covid-19: provision of night shelters, whether communal shelters for homeless people will be able to open in winter 2020-21.

Answering Member: Kelly Tolhurst | Department: MHCLG

We have worked extensively with Public Health England to provide Operating Principles for the sector to help them open shelters as safely as possible where necessary, when self-contained accommodation can’t be made available and when local partners agree that it is the right thing to do.

On 13 October, we announced further funding which will give local areas the tools they need to support vulnerable rough sleepers this winter. This includes a £10 million Cold Weather Fund for local areas to bring forward self-contained and COVID secure accommodation this winter and £2 million funding for the faith, communities and voluntary sector to transform their traditional rough sleeping services into self-contained and COVID secure accommodation.