Today’s announcement marks a pivotal moment: an acknowledgement from the highest level of political leadership that rough sleeping should not exist, and a decisive step forward to end it once and for all.
The Prime Minister was right to recognise rough sleeping as one of the biggest moral scandals of our time as he entered Downing Street for the first time. In 21st Century Britain, nobody should be forced to sleep on the streets. We have long been calling for urgent and decisive action to end rough sleeping, and we wholeheartedly welcome Andy Burnham’s commitment to offer a route off the streets for everyone sleeping rough by Christmas, with a longer term, sustainable, housing-led programme developed alongside. It is exactly the kind of intervention needed to save lives, and to begin turning the tide on record levels of rough sleeping.
Our frontline teams meet thousands of people sleeping rough every single night of the year. We have been particularly alarmed by the stark increase in people who are trying to survive from one day to the next, while also managing multiple interconnected challenges, such as serious physical health conditions, mental ill-health, and alcohol and substance support needs.
Every night on the streets causes people more harm. It deepens trauma, negatively impacts mental and physical health, and makes it even harder to access support. Housing is key, but housing alone will not be enough. A roof over somebody’s head provides immediate safety, but lasting recovery requires intensive, person-centred, joined-up support. That today’s announcement provides both a commitment to get people off the streets quickly, as well as the tailored support needed to help them stay off them for good, is exactly the right approach.
During the pandemic, the Everyone In initiative reduced rough sleeping significantly. It showed that when national leadership is accompanied by local action, rough sleeping is not inevitable. Prevention measures were equally important. The eviction ban and increases to Local Housing Allowance rates prevented many people from becoming homeless in the first place. The evidence is clear: one-off interventions can only transform into lasting solutions if we also address the systemic drivers of homelessness.
The challenge now is turning emergency action into lasting, sustainable change. That means scaling up the proven interventions that help people leave the streets for good; addressing the drivers of homelessness to prevent it before it happens – ensuring housing is genuinely affordable and investing in vital support services; and taking bold action now, not in the years to come, to ensure the state never makes anyone homeless.
Burnham’s greatest challenge will be sustaining this ambition and galvanising action across government, local government and wider society to address the root causes of homelessness. We stand ready to work with the Government, this winter and beyond, to make that ambition a reality.
