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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the number of local authority housing services that have closed their offices in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps the Government is taking to that ensure that (a) homeless people and (b) people at risk of homelessness have timely access to advice and support from local authority housing services.

The Government recognises the challenges faced by those who are homeless or sleeping rough during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Our specialist adviser teams are working closely with all local authorities on their responses to Covid-19. We are not currently aware of any local authority housing services which have closed their offices in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, though we know some may move to remote working. Those who work in charities, key frontline services and occupations delivering essential public services are included in the published list of key workers whose children will be prioritised for educational provision so that essential services can be maintained during this time.

As an initial first step we have announced £3.2 million in emergency funding for local authorities to help rough sleepers and those at risk of sleeping rough to self-isolate.