By Milly Saber
There has been a rise in the number of people sleeping on the streets by virtue of the cost of living crisis.
With more than 100 beds now accessible, beds for eligible rough sleepers are at a record height. Additional government funding has been secured by Ealing Council to offer extra assistance. This includes assistance with alcohol and drug addictions. Nevertheless, a large proportion of rough sleepers in the borough are still unfit for the support that has been openly funded.
Over the span of a few years, an average of two – thirds of homeless people have been non – UK inhabitants who are caught up in the immigration system. They cannot work lawfully, nor can they lease or request benefits. This makes it exceedingly difficult to present them with a way off the streets. Ealing has one of the top – levels of NRPF (No Recourse to Public Funds) homeless people in London.
NRPF was relinquished for a time, at the climax of the Covid – 19 pandemic, and nationally, councils were permitted to arrange housing. However, with the end of the pandemic restrictions, this was terminated, and councils were once more left with no legitimate power to provide aid.
The government was called for by Ealing Council and its provincial partners to offer provisional refugee status to conquer this in 2021. No change has yet transpired. Ealing Council’s cabinet member for genuinely affordable housing, Councillor Lauren Wall, voiced that “no one should have to sleep rough”. She also said that “Everyone who needs a bed for the night in the borough should be able to access somewhere to stay and get the support they need to stay off the streets. However, our hands are tied by the law when it comes to offering help to the desperately disadvantaged rough sleepers with no recourse to public funds. We urgently need a change in government policy to allow us to intervene”.