If there has been any silver lining to the COVID cloud it may be the urgency and agility with which local and national government and the homelessness sector came together to bring ‘Everyone In’ during the first lockdown. In a matter of days we demonstrated that there is no need for people to be living on the streets in the UK in the 21st Century.
As we enter the third lockdown, I welcomed last week’s announcement of further government action and investment. The call to local authorities to redouble efforts to bring ‘Everyone In’ is timely and essential. Homeless Link is the national membership charity for frontline homelessness services. Our members have been reporting a steady drift of people back to the streets, whether coming out of temporary accommodation or becoming newly homeless as COVID related economic hardship hits more people. Another effort by government, local authorities and the sector is required to stop this drift and start the transition to a much better long-term solution.
We cannot, however, underestimate the challenges that will still need to be overcome.
Local service providers, whether commissioned or not, will be called upon to reach out to rough sleepers and support them as they come into accommodation. I know they will be keen to help, but in the current climate this puts them at great risk. Public Health England have confirmed that local authorities can define people working in homeless settings as frontline social care workers and therefore be eligible for early vaccination. Several authorities have already done this, but as it is subject to the local judgement of directors of adult social care I have some concerns that the principle will not be applied consistently.
And there is the further question of vaccination priority for people without homes themselves, who are not currently a high priority for vaccination. We all know that the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases exponentially with age. A recent study found that among a sample of homeless hostel residents in London, there are levels of frailty comparable to 89-year-olds in the general population. The unfortunate reality is that people with no home die young. The mean age at death of homeless people was 46 years for men, 43 years for women as compared to the general population mean age of 76 years for men and 81 years for women. We are therefore calling on the JCVI to include people without homes in the higher priority groups for vaccination.
I was pleased to see that, in his recent letter, the Secretary of State stressed the need to ensure that homeless people will be given urgent registration with a GP and a clinical vulnerability assessment so that they can receive essential treatment, help and advice. Despite it being unlawful, we know that people without an address are often refused registration. We’ve asked members to monitor registration refusal and to take the issue to both the Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England If, as part of bringing everyone in we can tackle this problem once and for all, it means that many marginalised people can be brought back into our healthcare systems. Homeless Link and our partners have a developed a Homeless Health Needs Audit, with support from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as a tool that can be used in local areas.
The Government have promised additional funding for some areas not already in the Protect Programme. It is not yet clear how these funds will be distributed. Our team of Partnership Managers, who work with our members in local areas, are standing by to support all local authorities to ensure best practice is delivered across the country as we have done across all regions throughout the pandemic.
Before COVID this Government was committed to ending rough sleeping by 2024. The efforts that have been put in, by all partners, during the pandemic are welcome and should be harnessed to create a better and more sustainable future for everyone who is currently without a home or at threat of losing their home. Only when we look at these wider issues in the system can we begin to move towards ending homelessness for good.
Rick Henderson is chief executive of Homeless Link
Homeless Link is the national membership charity for frontline homelessness services. With over 800 members across the country including more than 70 local authorities, we work together to improve services and campaign to ensure that everyone has a place to call home and the support they need to keep it.
Contact: homelesslink.org.uk
@HomelessLink