Kerslake Commission calls on government to develop longer-term homelessness strategy built on success of Everyone In

Final report concludes that, without urgent action, benefits and lessons learned from joint working during the pandemic will be wasted and numbers of rough sleepers will rise again

The Kerslake Commission has called on the government to develop a longer-term homelessness strategy built on the success of the Everyone In policy that was introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The independent Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping was launched in March 2021 to examine and learn the lessons from the emergency response which supported people sleeping rough during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Having published an interim report, When We Work Together - learning the lessons, in July 2021, the Commission has today published its final report, A new way of working: ending rough sleeping together, which concludes that, without urgent action, the benefits and lessons learned from the joint working during the pandemic will be wasted, and the number of people having to sleep on the streets will rise again.

As a result, the Commission makes a number of recommendations, including that - 

• the government should develop a longer-term rough sleeping strategy built on the success of the Everyone In policy;
• the £20 universal credit uplift should be maintained;
• there should be increased joint working by all organisations involved in homelessness by extending the Duty to Refer within the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 to make it a Duty to Collaborate;
• a Quality Assurance framework should be introduced for those providing homelessness accommodation;
• there should be a clear policy position that limiting access to benefits for non-UK nationals should stop short of causing destitution; and
•  the reliance on communal shelters should be improved through enhanced planning for extreme cold or severe heat.

For more information, see The Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping from commissionroughsleeping.org