NEWS ROUND-UP
Don’t squander chance to end rough
sleeping, urge parliamentarians
The government needs
to establish a £100m
housing support fund
to avoid losing a ‘golden
opportunity’ to put an
end to rough sleeping, says a report
from the Housing, Communities and
Local Government Committee.
Around 90 per cent of rough
sleepers – approximately 5,400 people
– have been housed in temporary
accommodation in response to
COVID-19, providing a ‘unique
opportunity to eradicate rough
London, May 2020: Homeless people
erect tents on Tottenham Court
Road. Credit: Monica Wells/Alamy
sleeping in England for once and for
all’, says the committee. It wants to
see at least £100m a year dedicated
to long-term housing support to avoid
the thousands of people in temporary
accommodation ending up back on
the streets, and warns of a ‘looming
homelessness crisis’ as the threemonth
ban on evictions expires.
The government needs to work
quickly to put in place a housingbased
exit strategy and a dedicated
funding stream to support it, the
committee urges. The government
recently denied press reports that
it was about to stop funding the
scheme to provide emergency
accommodation for rough sleepers
in hotels, with the Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local
Government (MHCLG) stating that it
would ‘work with partners to ensure
rough sleepers can move into longterm,
safe accommodation once the
immediate crisis is over’. However
London mayor Sadiq Khan has
warned that funding to house rough
sleepers in hotels in the capital
will run out in mid June, telling
the Guardian that without new
government money there would
be a ‘surge’ in homeless people
returning to the streets.
‘We must praise the efforts of
all those who have done so much to
help take people of the streets during
the current health emergency, but
what happens next is crucial,’ said
Housing, Communities and Local
Government Committee chair Clive
Betts. ‘It is simply not good enough
for anyone to leave temporary
accommodation and end up back
on the streets. This isn't just about
protecting vulnerable people from
COVID-19. It is not safe to live on the
streets in any circumstances, and it
is not acceptable to allow it to return
once the health crisis abates. For
the first time in over a decade rough
sleepers have been comprehensively
taken off the streets and given
accommodation. This must become
the new norm.’
Meanwhile, St Mungo’s has
launched a campaign, No going
back, which is calling for funding to
be put in place for local authorities
to ensure that no one is made to
leave emergency accommodation
without being offered suitable
alternative housing, as well as
for more housing and support for
people with complex needs. ‘If
the government takes action now
thousands of people can be helped
off the streets permanently,’ it says.
Protecting rough sleepers and
renters at https://publications.
parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/
cmcomloc/309/30902.htm
No going back campaign at www.
mungos.org
Scottish Government widens
availability of naloxone
COVID-19 reducing
drug supplies
THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT has widened the availability
of naloxone as part of a package of support for people
affected by drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other measures include £1.9m to support people on
OST while in prison to switch to prolonged-release
buprenorphine injections, and an ‘enhanced offer of
residential rehab’ for people leaving prison during the
outbreak in order to reduce pressure on local services.
Under current UK regulations, only drug treatment
services are allowed to supply take-home naloxone
kits. However, Scotland’s lord advocate has confirmed
that it would ‘not be in the public interest’ to prosecute
anyone working for a service registered with the
Scottish Government – for example, a homelessness
organisation – who supplies naloxone for use in an
emergency during the crisis. Non-drug treatment
services will need to register with the Scottish
Government to become a naloxone provider.
It would ‘not
be in the public
interest’ to
prosecute anyone
working for a
service registered
with the Scottish
Government.
HEROIN SHORTAGES have been reported in Europe,
North America and South West Asia, according to
a UNODC report on COVID-19 and drug supply,
increasing the risk that people may switch to fentanyl
or its derivatives. Afghanistan’s poppy harvest is being
affected by the pandemic, as is cocaine production in
Colombia, which has been hit by gasoline shortages.
Disruption of air and land routes because of COVID-19
has also had a major impact on drug supply. ‘In the
long run, the economic downturn caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to lead to a
lasting and profound transformation of the drug
markets,’ says the agency. ‘The economic difficulties
caused by COVID-19 may affect people who are
already in position of socioeconomic disadvantage
harder than others.’
COVID-19 and the drug supply chain: from production
and trafficking to use available at www.unodc.org
4 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • JUNE 2020
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