Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that every rough sleeper is provided with adequate sheltered accommodation during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown in England.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The ‘Protect Programme’, the next step in the ongoing targeted support to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities from COVID-19, was announced by the Prime Minister on Thursday 5 November. A further £15 million will be provided to support the ongoing efforts to provide accommodation for rough sleepers during the pandemic, and is on top of the previously announced £10 million Cold Weather Fund for all councils to help keep rough sleepers safe this winter.
Areas with high numbers of rough sleepers will receive extra targeted support to provide accommodation for those currently sleeping rough, prioritising those who are clinically vulnerable. This work will continue throughout the winter until March 2021.
This builds on the success of the still ongoing ‘Everyone In’ campaign, which is helping to protect thousands of lives during the pandemic - by September it had supported over 29,000 vulnerable people; with over 10,000 in emergency accommodation and nearly 19,000 moved on into settled accommodation.
This funding is on top of the £91.5 million allocated to 274 councils in September to fund their individual plans for rough sleepers over the coming months. More than 3,300 new long-term homes for rough sleepers across the country have been approved, backed by Government investment of more than £150 million.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the suspension on evictions beyond 20 September 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Our primary consideration remains, as it has been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, to protect public health and ensure public services can provide support to those who need it. The stay on possession proceedings has been extended until 20 September 2020, meaning that in total no tenant can have been legally evicted for six months at the height of the pandemic.
Legislation has been introduced that means, from 29 August 2020, landlords must give tenants six months’ notice before they can evict in most circumstances, apart from the most egregious cases such as incidents of anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse perpetrators. This will be in force until 31 March 2021.
When courts do resume possession hearings they will carefully prioritise the most egregious cases, ensuring landlords are able to advance cases such as those involving anti-social behaviour and other?serious cases.??Case listing, including prioritisation, in court is a judicial function and we are working with the judiciary through the Master of the Rolls’ Working Group on possession proceedings to finalise the categories of serious cases that?will?be prioritised when hearings resume.
Our measures strike a good balance?by?easing the path to the?opening?of?the courts for the most critical cases while keeping the public safe over winter.? We will keep these measures under review?and decisions?will continue?to be guided by the latest public health advice.