Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Covid-19: provision of night shelters, whether communal shelters for homeless people will be able to open in winter 2020-21.

We have worked extensively with Public Health England to provide Operating Principles for the sector to help them open shelters as safely as possible where necessary, when self-contained accommodation can’t be made available and when local partners agree that it is the right thing to do

On 13 October, we announced further funding which will give local areas the tools they need to support vulnerable rough sleepers this winter. This includes a £10 million Cold Weather Fund for local areas to bring forward self-contained and COVID secure accommodation this winter and £2 million funding for the faith, communities and voluntary sector to transform their traditional rough sleeping services into self-contained and COVID secure accommodation.