Getting Rough Sleepers Off The Streets Of Liverpool

Just over three weeks ago Liverpool’s homeless and rough sleepers were moved into accommodation to help reduce the spread of coronavirus.

The measures saw Liverpool City Council’s rough sleeper shelter Labre House shut its doors, with people who were previously sharing communal spaces and bathrooms transferred to places with separate facilities, including into apart-hotels, in order to enable them to self-isolate if necessary.  Meanwhile, outreach teams continued to go out into the city centre to encourage rough sleepers to come inside and to provide them with the appropriate medial support if needed, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Within days, councils across the country also followed suit, after a letter sent out by the government, urged all local authorities to house rough sleepers by the end of the week. Liverpool City Council confirmed that 130 homeless households have been moved into a range of accommodation options as part of their response to the coronavirus pandemic. The majority of these households were service users who were already accessing Labre House.

The council said outreach work is continuing to operate in the city to target the small number of rough sleepers – which currently stands at six people – who are still outdoors. This outreach work aims to encourage these individuals to come inside or to return to the accommodation they have available to them. The different accommodation options the council is providing is dependent upon the needs of service users.

A spokesperson from the council said: “People with low support needs are accessing shared houses with visiting support; some in good quality hotel accommodation; others in our commissioned temporary accommodation. The majority of service users from Labre Hosue are being accommodated in an apart-hotel with support on-site.”

“Everyone has access to support. The apart-hotel has staff on site 24/7 supporting service users to settle into their accommodation, access welfare benefits, provide food, support re substance misuse etc. We are also getting a lot of support from colleagues in the health sector.”

The council spokesperson added: “It’s far too early to say anything definitive about long term plans at present. The council is looking at options and will continually review them as and when the current situation changes.”