Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to work with (a) the Department of Health and Social Care and (b) public health teams to ensure homeless people receive the covid-19 vaccine.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England, and NHS England to ensure the health and care needs of vulnerable people experiencing rough sleeping can be met during the COVID-19 pandemic – including access to the vaccination.

On 8 January, we asked all local authorities to ensure that even more people experiencing rough sleeping are safely accommodated, backed by £10 million. We also asked that this opportunity is actively used to make sure that individuals are registered with a GP and are factored into local area vaccination plans, in line with JCVI prioritisation.

Many people sleeping rough may have underlying conditions that increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 but may struggle to access the healthcare they need. The JCVI have now advised that local teams should consider a universal offer of the COVID-19 vaccine for people experiencing homelessness or rough sleeping alongside the delivery of the programme to priority group 6, where appropriate. This will help ensure that the wider health needs of people who sleep rough are addressed, supporting them now and for the future.

We recognise that this group may also experience additional barriers to accessing mainstream delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s why we have encouraged local authorities to work with their local health partners to consider alternative means of delivering the vaccine where mainstream provision is unsuitable.

We continue to work with the homelessness sector, local authorities and health and care partners, to ensure the needs of those experiencing homelessness can be met.