The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has warned that hundreds of homeless Londoners face the potentially fatal choice of freezing on the streets or risking Covid infection in communal

accommodation if ministers don’t address a serious shortfall in emergency accommodation funding this winter.

Charities, councils and City Hall have all been working tirelessly to ensure people who are homeless this winter have a bed in safe, Covid-secure accommodation over the coldest months. But new calculations from the Mayor’s rough sleeping team have highlighted a £24m gap in emergency accommodation funding – meaning there simply won’t be enough safe spaces for everyone who needs them this winter. Recently-announced funding from central Government - a national £10m winter fund and the £15m ‘Protect’ programme – falls far short of what is needed.

The Mayor is calling for the Government to make extra funds available as a matter of extreme urgency as temperatures drop and Covid cases in the capital rise. The Mayor has already activated the pan-London Severe Weather Emergency Protocols (SWEP) for one night this winter as temperatures dipped below 0C.

This funding would not only pay for accommodation but also help provide the support many vulnerable homeless people require, including dedicated services for people with drug and alcohol problems, members of the LGBTQ+ community and young homeless people. More than 500 under-35s were accommodated in hotels funded by City Hall during the first wave of the pandemic.

The Mayor recognises the huge impact the pandemic has had on the lives of young people, with the instability, lack of opportunities and unstable employment forcing hundreds into homelessness for the first time. The Mayor’s 2020/21 Winter Rough Sleeping Fundraising Campaign will directly benefit this group as funds will be split between four charities working with young homeless Londoners: Depaul, akt, Centrepoint and New Horizons Youth Centre.

Over the last three years generous Londoners have raised over £500,000 for charities to support rough sleepers off the streets and the public will once again have the opportunity to donate via TAP London contactless donation points in shops, stations and cafes across the capital or on the TAP London website.

Since March, a world-leading collective effort by London local government and charities has given more than 6,000 homeless people across London somewhere safe to stay – including over 1,700 in hotels funded by City Hall. Doing this has kept some of the most vulnerable Londoners safe, avoiding an estimated 7,000 infections and 90 deaths, and preventing the high number of infections seen amongst those who are homeless in other global cities.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “For homeless Londoners, this is a winter like no other, as they face the twin dangers of freezing conditions and Covid-19.

“My rough sleeping team, charities and councils are working tirelessly to support and accommodate homeless Londoners this winter, as they have been doing since the start of the pandemic.

“London will continue to do what we can with the resources we have to keep homeless Londoners safe but we could be doing so much more. Ministers must urgently set out the funding and policy changes needed to keep people off the streets for good.

“In the absence of action from Government to keep every rough sleeper safe this winter, I’m confident Londoners will once again show their compassion and generosity by backing my winter fundraising campaign and helping to support young Londoners who find themselves homeless.”

 Photo by Philafrenzy, Wikimedia commons.