Labour leader Keir Starmer as joined with Labour’s directly elected mayors including Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham to call on the Government to honour its commitment to end rough sleeping by seizing the “once in a generation opportunity” presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The demand came ahead of a virtual meeting between the Labour leader and Labour’s directly elected ‘metro mayors’.
According to official figures, during the coronavirus pandemic more than 5,000 rough sleepers have been offered emergency accommodation, including in hotels. However, Ministers have so far failed to commit to supporting those rough sleepers into longer-term accommodation.
The statement from Labour warns that government inaction “could see rough sleepers ending up back on the streets” and has called for “certainty over the future funding arrangements.”
It goes on: “When this crisis is over, we cannot return to business as usual…If the government is serious about its commitment to end rough sleeping, now is the time to act.”
