Centrepoint calls for action to protect young rough sleepers during lockdown

The charity wants to see the return of the Everyone In scheme, which was launched last March during the first lockdown of the pandemic to help councils ensure rough sleepers were housed.

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Everyone In saw £3.2m in emergency targeted funding for councils to provide immediate accommodation for those living on the streets. The government says 90 per cent of rough sleepers known to councils were offered accommodation through the scheme.

But Centrepoint says that the scheme is once again needed as councils and charities are struggling to deal with the scale of homelessness amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the latest lockdown.

“Last year, Everyone In ensured local authorities and charities had the resources they needed to provide Covid-safe accommodation,” said Centrepoint head of public affairs Paul Noblet.

"To their credit, ministers have announced more money for long-term homelessness services since then but, with cold weather funding falling short of pre-pandemic levels, it's clear more needs to be done to keep rough sleepers safe over the coming months.

"Councils and charities were already struggling to cope with the volume of those facing homelessness due to the pandemic and so, with the cold weather setting in, central government must make a fully-resourced return to the initiative that worked so well in the first lockdown."

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said that the Everyone In scheme is still ongoing however it is not believed to have been kicked into action to help addtional rough sleepers despite fresh coronavirus measures being imposed.

The spokesman added: “We will do everything in our power to prevent people from finding themselves sleeping rough or homeless this winter, and that remains the policy of the Government.

“The ongoing Everyone In campaign is protecting thousands of lives. We’ve housed 29,000 vulnerable people; including supporting 19,000 into settled accommodation or with move on support. We're ensuring councils and voluntary organisations have the tools and funding they need.”

According to the MHCLG the government has spent more than £700m on schemes to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year.

This has included £91.5m allocated to 274 councils to fund rough sleeper plans and the £10m Cold Weather Fund, to support councils house rough sleepers.

The government has pledged to invest more than £750m to tackle homelessness and tough sleepers next year.