Recommendations & Conclusions
21 items
2
Recommendation
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The Department still does not have a plan for achieving its target of ending rough sleeping by 2024, and risks failing to capitalise on the successes of Everyone In. Following the general election in December 2019 the government began this Parliament with a manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by …
Government response. 2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation, although it will be important to ensure sufficient time for the development of the new strategy and to align with the forthcoming 2021 Spending …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The size of the rough sleeping population and those at risk of rough sleeping is far higher than the snapshot the Department is relying on, exposing the inadequacy of its current approach to data collection and reporting. One consequence of 6 COVID-19: housing people sleeping rough Everyone In has been …
Government response. 3.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 3.2 The department has so far published five snapshots of the data (as at May, September, November, December 2020 and January 2021). 3.3 This is a relatively new data source which must …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The Department has provided a number of different funding streams to local authorities to cover the pandemic response for people sleeping rough, but many are short-term and reactive, and the Department does not have a cohesive long- term funding plan for its commitment to end rough sleeping. Local authorities expect …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Winter 2021 4.2 This year alone the department have committed over £750 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has sought …
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The Department has provided mixed messages to local authorities on how to support people sleeping rough who have no recourse to public funds, and has no long-term plan for those who have been taken into hotels. Local authorities are generally not permitted to support non-UK nationals who legally have no …
Government response. 5.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.2 The government is fully committed to ending rough sleeping. The department will be working with partners across government to build on recent progress and consider what more needs to be done …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
It is uncertain whether the Department will meet its objective of providing 3,300 homes for people sleeping rough by the end of March 2021. Under its Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme, the Department has distributed £161 million funding against bids from local authorities for the provision of 3,300 homes for housing …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: May 2021 6.2 The Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme represents the biggest ever government investment in move-on accommodation for rough sleepers. The department welcomes the opportunity to report progress on …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (the Department).1 We also took evidence from Baroness Casey, who temporarily led the Department’s pandemic response in respect of people sleeping rough in spring and summer …
Government response. Based on a report by the National Audit Office, the Committee took evidence, on 25 January 2021 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The Committee published its report on 17 March 2021. This is the government …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
Notwithstanding the evident successes of Everyone In in the first wave of the pandemic, the National Audit Office noted that the Department’s response to the resurgence of COVID-19 in autumn and winter 2020 did not appear as comprehensive as in the spring. The NAO suggested that the Department would need …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The Department’s current Rough Sleeping Strategy was launched in August 2018, with a commitment to end rough sleeping by 2027.22 In December 2019 the new Government was elected with a manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by May 2024, three years earlier than the previous target.23 Following the adoption of …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
In our evidence session the Department was unable to define exactly what it meant by the commitment “to end” rough sleeping; nor was it able to state clearly whether it was on track to meet this target, or how it would measure and report on it.28 This is a failure …
Government response. 2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation, although it will be important to ensure sufficient time for the development of the new strategy and to align with the forthcoming 2021 Spending …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
Tackling rough sleeping on its own without addressing homelessness as a whole may even worsen other measures of homelessness, if it means only placing more people in temporary accommodation, thereby adding to the number of homeless households.29 Baroness Casey told us that, in her opinion, not only was a review …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The Department publishes one official measure of rough sleeping, its annual snapshot, which estimates the number of people sleeping rough on one night every autumn.34 The latest annual snapshot of figure before the pandemic, taken in autumn 2019 was 4,266.35 In contrast, the number of people assisted under Everyone In …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
In June 2020 the Department began regular data collections from local authorities on numbers of people sleeping rough in their area.40 In spite of the Everyone In initiative (and other measures, such as a ban on evictions in the private rental sector), there were reports of increasing numbers of people …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
As of January 2021, local authorities said they were expecting to spend an extra £192 million in the 2020–21 financial year, in respect of additional spending on homelessness and rough sleeping as a result of the pandemic.46 The Department considers that it has reimbursed local authorities for the costs paid …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
In addition, the Department is providing around £700 million for rough sleeping and homelessness in 2020–21, with the majority of this funding distributed through local authorities.49 Before the pandemic, the Department had planned to spend £495 million in 2020–21, as announced in previous spending rounds and the 2020 Budget.50 The …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
Since October 2020, the Department has made a series of smaller funding commitments for the winter months, including a £10 million Cold Weather Fund, £12 million Protect Programme and £10 million in January 2021 for extra COVID protection for people sleeping rough.53 The Department told us that in its consideration …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The immigration status of people sleeping rough who are non-UK nationals can affect their legal entitlement to benefits. In some cases these are immigrants from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA), whose visas impose the condition that they have ‘no recourse to public funds’.59 Other sub-groups of non-UK nationals …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
At the outset of Everyone In, the Department gave a clear message to local authorities that, as this was a public health emergency, they were to bring everyone in (“whether they are from Bromley or Portugal”), irrespective of immigration status or entitlement to benefits.62 At the end of May, however, …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
At out evidence session the Department was unable to answer several of our queries about these cohorts. It told us it believed that people sleeping rough with no recourse to public funds would be eligible to receive vaccinations against COVID-19, but that it was not leading on this issue, and …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
Under its Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme, the Department has distributed £161 million funding against bids from local authorities for the provision of 3,300 homes for housing rough sleepers.76 In October the Department led us to believe the majority of these homes would be new housing, that is, additions to the …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
The Department described these 3,300 homes as “move-on” accommodation, although it made clear its assumption that residents would stay for an average of two years before needing to move on somewhere else. It did not clarify what its plans were for where they would move on to at the end …
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
Forty-Ninth Report - COVID-19: housing …
As of September 2020 the Department was reasonably confident that all 3,300 homes would be completed by its target date of 31 March 2021.80 In our evidence session the 69 C&AG’s Report, para 2.12. 70 Q 41. 71 Qq 31–2. 72 Q 34. 73 Q 40. 74 Q 42. 75 …
HM Treasury