As Andy Burnham set out his plan to end rough sleeping on Tuesday night, volunteers from homelessness charity Under One Sky were offering hot drinks, sandwiches, socks, underwear and soap to dozens of rough sleepers around Tottenham Court Road in central London. Among those sleeping on the streets, the prime minister’s plan was met with widespread scepticism born from long familiarity with similar political declarations. I think he is taking on a monumental task,” said a former construction worker in his 50s, who did not want to be named.
He was living in a hostel after struggling to find work over the past few years, and was reluctant to sign on for unemployment benefits. I wouldn’t have done that,” he said. Many said it was hard to follow the news without regular internet access, but several were aware that Burnham had made a commitment to end rough sleeping when he came to power.
You mean he has said some words?” said one man in his 60s who has been sleeping intermittently in a tent in front of a furniture shop for several years. He was reluctant to say why he was homeless, only that he had previously owned a restaurant before losing his house. He chose to stay in his spot on the street because of the easy access to a nearby hospital, and said he was not looking for any help from the government.
I’ll sort myself out,” he said. Burnham has likened his plan to the “Everyone In” scheme launched during the Covid pandemic, which housed thousands of rough sleepers, mainly in hotels, during lockdown. We can do it again,” Burnham said in an article for the Guardian on Tuesday.
But many working in the homelessness sector said it will not be easy to recreate this feat. Adam Soliman, a deputy manager at St Mungo’s, a homeless charity, ran a Holiday Inn branch that was used to house rough sleepers during the pandemic. He said while the scheme was successful at getting people through the door, it did not help them to stop rough sleeping in the long term, largely because there were no permanent homes for people to move to.
Is there going to be more money for mental health services? Lesley Howard, head of homelessness at charity Change Grow Live, which helps substance misusers, said the answer would not be found by “throwing more money at the issue”. That’s not going to be the offer this time – is it going to be night shelters?
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