The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have announced £2.9 billion of funding allocation for local authorities to support vulnerable people, including people who are homeless during the COVID-19 crisis. This funding is from the £500 billion COVID-19 fund announced in The Budget.
Oliver Hilbery, Director of the MEAM coalition said:
“We welcome the announcement of this funding, which will allow local areas to act quickly and decisively to ensure that people facing multiple disadvantage are not disproportionately affected by COVID-19. We fully endorse the statement from Homeless Link this morning and in particular their suggestion that every local area should now move quickly to ensure that:
- ‘No-one is sleeping on the streets
- No-one is sleeping in a communal setting or using shared sanitation facilities
- Local services can arrange people into appropriate groupings to prevent risk
- Everyone who needs to self-isolate in line with government guidance is able to do so.
- Staff have the access to testing and the Personal Protective Equipment that they need to operate safely.’
MEAM will be working to support MEAM Approach and Fulfilling Lives areas as they work to put these actions in place”