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NAO warns ‘Everyone In’ exposed scale of homelessness crisis

The government’s ‘Everyone In’ campaign to provide emergency housing for rough sleepers has exposed many issues which need to be urgently addressed, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

In a report published today (14 January), the watchdog says by the end of November, more than 33,000 people have been helped through the scheme.

A total of 23,273 people had been supported to move into the private rental sector or another form of settled accommodation, and 9,866 people remained in hotels and other emergency accommodation.

But the number of people accommodated under the programme over several months has far exceeded the number of people recorded as rough sleeping in the government’s annual national ‘snapshot’ of the rough sleeping population, the report notes.

In the autumn of 2019, this snapshot estimated that there were 4,266 people sleeping rough on any given night, compared to the over 33,000 people who were helped by Everyone In.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that it was making an extra £10m available to support local authorities to provide accommodation to people still sleeping rough.

he report says it ‘remains to be seen’ if the approach taken in winter 2020-21 will reduce the risk of the transmission of Covid-19 among rough sleepers as decisively as in spring 2020.

‘In partnership with local government, and the voluntary and private sectors, the government acted swiftly to house rough sleepers and keep transmission rates low during the first wave. Despite this considerable achievement, the response raised key issues for government to address,’ said the head of the NAO, Gareth Davies.

‘For the first time, the scale of the rough sleeping population in England has been made clear, and it far exceeds the government’s previous estimates. Understanding the size of this population, and who needs specialist support, is essential to achieve its ambition to end rough sleeping.’

Responding to a report, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesperson, Cllr David Renard said: ‘The success of the Everyone In initiative in getting people sleeping rough off the streets and saving lives shows we can end the vast majority of rough sleeping. As this report suggests, it is vital that we build on the lessons learnt, and strive to make this the new normal, rather than a one-off emergency response.

‘If councils are to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place, short-term reactive pots of funding need to be replaced by long-term funding issued through multi-year settlements to give councils the certainty they need to plan local services.’

Photo Credit – ArtTower (Pixabay)

Jamie Hailstone
Senior reporter - NewStart

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