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<p>The establishment of the Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS) was announced as
part of the Government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy in August 2018. The RSSS was set
up to act as a central point of contact for local <br>authorities to help them to
establish the immigration status of non-UK national rough sleepers and for the Home
Office to prioritise any outstanding immigration cases, which might unlock entitlement
to support and enable them to get off the streets. The service is not an enforcement
approach but the Home Office may consider action on a case-by-case basis where individuals
have exhausted all other avenues and are unwilling to leave the UK voluntarily. This
is in line with existing immigration law.</p><p>Removals of non-UK rough sleepers
cannot be disaggregated in the published statistics on the removal of those without
lawful status. It is also not possible to directly attribute removals to interaction
with the RSSS because a range of factors will have affected how decisions were reached
in these cases. A person’s removal from the UK is determined by their immigration
status and circumstances, including unwillingness to depart voluntarily, not by contact
with the RSSS.</p><p>The Home Office has engaged with a wide range of local authorities
and charities in and outside of London to explain how the RSSS can assist with swift
immigration status checks, help those here lawfully to evidence this fact to unlock
access to support and assist with those who wish to leave the UK.</p><p>Most of the
cases referred to the RSSS have been internal referrals from within the Home Office.
We have been developing processes to ensure all data sharing with other organisations
is fully GDPR-compliant. This includes the requirement to ensure that rough sleepers
are advised and informed about the possible use of their information by the Home Office.</p><p>The
RSSS is a mixed grade team of fewer than five staff, none of whom is from Border Force.
It does not undertake any enforcement action. It has an administrative role, conducting
status checks, identifying cases for <br>prioritisation and ensuring that other parts
of the Home Office are able to provide assistance to those who require evidence of
their lawful status or assistance in leaving the UK.</p><p>The Home Office assigned
existing staff to the RSSS team and no extra resources were required.</p>
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