Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the correlation between covid-19 mortality rates and homelessness.

In July 2020, the Office for National Statistics’ data indicated that 16 deaths due to COVID-19 occurred in the homeless population between 1 January and 26 June 2020. During that period, nearly 15,000 vulnerable homeless people were housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, to reduce the risk of transmission. By November the Government had supported around 33,000 people with nearly 10,000 currently in emergency accommodation and over 23,000 already moved on into longer-term accommodation since the pandemic began.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England to ensure a rapid joint health and housing response to protect some of the most vulnerable in society throughout the pandemic.