Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Conclusion 9

Sixth Report - Protecting the homeless and the private rented sector: MHCLG’s response to Covid-19 Published 31 Mar 2021 Paragraph 29 Addressed to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on homelessness and the private rented sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Conclusion (the committee's words)

There are substantial differences between a well-established severe weather emergency protocol, which provides short-term accommodation, often in night shelters or other communal spaces, and providing long-term accommodation in self-contained en-suite units with significant wraparound support. While there can be some similarities—especially the principle of ‘In for Good’—this is undermined by the different way the Government stipulates how funding can be used for Severe Weather Emergency Protocol versus Everyone In. The Everyone In funding since May 2020 cannot be spent on individuals with no recourse to public funds, in comparison to the Cold Weather Fund, which can be spent on everyone. Limiting spending in such a manner undermines a broad discretionary power and prevents local authorities from helping whomever they like, unless they spend out of their own pocket.

From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Sixth Report - Protecting the homeless and the private rented sector: MHCLG’s response to Covid-19 (HC 1329), paragraph 29, 31 March 2021

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 25 May 2021 (deadline 31 May 2021).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The document published on 24 May 2021 is the government response to the Committee's report on COVID-19, homelessness and the private rented sector, but the text available here does not set out the government's position on the report's recommendations.

The response is to the Committee's sixth report of Session 2019 to 2021, following its inquiry into the impact of COVID-19 on homelessness and the private rented sector.
The page describes the Committee's inquiry as considering support for rough sleepers, the wider homeless population, renters and landlords, and as making recommendations about future support.
The full response (Ref: CP 439, 16 pages) is available as HTML and PDF. Its content on agreement, disagreement or specific commitments is not included in the text provided, so none is summarised here.

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