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<p>Over 90 per cent of those on the streets and in communal night shelters known to
local authorities at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis have now been made offers
of safe accommodation – ensuring some of the most vulnerable in society are protected
from the pandemic.</p><p>We announced that councils across England will receive another
£1.6 billion in additional funding to enable them to respond to other COVID-19 pressures
across all the services they deliver, stepping up support for services helping the
most vulnerable, including homeless people. This takes the total funding to support
councils to respond to the pandemic to over £3.2 billion. This is in addition to £3.2
million in targeted funding for councils to support vulnerable rough sleepers.</p><p>On
2 May 2020 the Secretary of State announced that Dame Louise Casey will lead the Government
Taskforce on the response to rough sleeping during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Taskforce
will focus on next on next steps of emergency response to support vulnerable rough
sleepers during the pandemic.</p><p>The taskforce will work hand-in-hand with councils
across the country on plans to ensure rough sleepers can move into long-term, safe
accommodation once the immediate crisis is over – ensuring as few people as possible
return to life on the streets.</p><p>Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic the Government
announced a further £112 million fund for the RSI across England in 2020/21 to help
276 areas tackle rough sleeping. The funding is a 30 per cent increase on the previous
year and will be used to introduce and expand a range of measures, including street-based
services, first stage accommodation, housing support and housing-led solutions, as
well as specialist support workers.</p>
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