Extra support for rough sleepers

19th January 2019

Extra support for rough sleepers 

E: joanne.mccartney@london.gov.uk   www.joannemccartney.com Tel: 020 7983 5524

It is a scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world we have growing numbers of people without a home, forced to sleep rough on our streets. The Government needs to tackle this issue urgently and deal with the causes of homelessness, such as cuts to welfare and support services.

I raised this issue with the Mayor of London at a recent Mayor’s Question time. In response he told me that he has doubled of the size of City Hall’s street outreach team, increased funding, created a new team to help those sleeping rough on London’s transport network, and agreed with London boroughs that severe weather shelters will now open London-wide if the temperature is predicted to drop below zero anywhere in the capital. Previously, shelters were opened on a borough-by-borough basis, leading to patchy provision.

I am pleased that the London Borough of Enfield has signed up to the Mayor’s ‘In For Good’ principle - a promise that, when a rough sleeper goes to an emergency shelter, they will be accommodated there until a support plan is put in place to help them off the streets for good.

If you see someone sleeping rough you can alert outreach services to rough sleepers needing support via the Streetlink app and website.

Trees for London

In my last column I wrote about the 75,000 trees being planted across London as part of the Mayor of London’s £1.5m Woodland Fund. On the weekend of the 3/4th December, along with hundreds of volunteers, I helped to plant over 3,000 trees to create a new woodland at Montagu Recreation Ground in Edmonton; and 600 trees were also planted in Broomfield Park to create a hedgerow along Aldermans Hill. Trees and woodland store carbon, help improve air quality, create habitat for wildlife, and provide spaces for recreation and inspiration.

Thank you to all the volunteers who came out in the rain to make this possible - your support is really appreciated.

London Assembly Investigations The London Assembly scrutinises the work of the Mayor and matters of importance to Londoners. We investigate and make recommendations to the Mayor and other bodies on how their policies could be improved to make London better. Current investigations are examining; the disability employment gap, temporary accommodation and welfare reform, social prescribing for London, secondary school exclusions and the Mayor’s Healthy Streets initiative. Full details and how you can send in your views can be found at www.london.gov.uk

Joanne is the London Assembly Member for Enfield & Haringey and is the statutory

Deputy Mayor of London.