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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that (a) at-risk and (b) vulnerable individuals (i) with irregular immigration status, (ii) who are homeless and (c) are victims of labour and sexual exploitation are provided with adequate accommodation during local covid-19 lockdowns.

The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable people and have acted decisively to ensure that we support everyone through this pandemic.

We are ensuring local authorities are supported, with £3.2 million in targeted funding to help support individuals who are sleeping rough off the streets, and an additional £3.7 billion provided to local authorities as part of the wider Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This funding has been provided to help local authorities to reduce risks to public health and to support individuals on the basis of need.

We are aware of concerns about those with no recourse to public funds experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis.

The legal position on those with no recourse to public funds has not been amended.

On 6 April, in line with Public Health England guidance and social distancing measures, the Safeguarding Minister announced that all modern slavery victims accommodated by the Victim Care Contract would not be required to move on from their Government-funded accommodation for a period of three months.

On 24 May, the Housing Secretary announced plans for thousands of long-term, safe homes to support many of the vulnerable rough sleepers who have been supported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, vulnerable rough sleepers taken off the streets during the pandemic can get the specialist support they need to rebuild their lives. This unprecedented commitment, the biggest of its kind since the Government's Rough Sleeping Initiative began, will be backed by £160 million in 20/21 to inject 3,300 new units of accommodation into the system over the following 12 months, part of 6,000 in total.

In addition, on 24 June the Housing Secretary announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the almost 15,000 vulnerable people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government recognises that these are unprecedented times, and expects local authorities to support people who are sleeping rough, and also to minimise unnecessary risks to public health, acting within the law.