An update on rough sleeping in Westminster and our Hidden Network campaign

Dear Residents’ Association

Further to our last discussions, I am writing to outline the most recent support provided to rough sleepers and to update you on our rough sleeping campaign.

During the second national lockdown we increased provision and support for those sleeping on our streets to match demand. This included opening additional donation hubs, assessment centres, and testing and treatment centres. These helped provide faster referrals to accommodation and support and access to COVID-19 treatment.

Working with our charity partners, we continue to offer rough sleepers routes off the streets and into safe, secure accommodation.

Since April 2020, we have moved more than 430 people into settled accommodation. Once someone is housed, we continue to provide wrap-around support to help them keep their tenancy, find and hold down a job, and access treatment for physical and mental health issues.

One of the aims for our rough sleeping campaign, the Hidden Network, is to increase the focus on explanation – to help people to understand the difficult realities of tackling rough sleeping. Just providing a meal, or even a bed for the night, does not solve the issue.

As part of this, we have produced four short videos with some of our charity partners. These videos shine a light on the different amazing services that support rough sleepers, how these work and the challenges faced.

You can find the videos, along with more information about the work of our services, on the council’s website.

Watch the videos and find out more about our services

If you need any more information, please do get in touch with Pippa Driver at pdriver@westminster.gov.uk

Kind regards,
Cllr Heather Acton
Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Licensing and Chairman of Licensing