The Prime Ministers commitment in 2019 to end rough sleeping by 2024 through the Housing First initiative and the collaborative working of Local Authorities, Housing Associations and charities took on a greater significance following the onset of the pandemic and the resulting initial national lockdown. A range of initiatives to support people to retain or access accommodation followed and were introduced by the Government in acknowledgement of the challenges that lay ahead. On 26 March 2020 the 'Everyone In' campaign was also launched, whereby local authorities were asked to provide emergency accommodation to rough sleepers, people who were living in shelters with shared sleeping arrangements, and those at risk of rough sleeping.

The Government legislated in the Homeless Reduction Act 2017 to create a duty on the institutional sources of homelessness – care leavers, prisoner discharge, military demob, hospital discharge. But homelessness has other, less visible causes including mental health, domestic abuse, drug abuse and addiction. 

The Working in Partnership to Tackle Homelessness and Rough Sleeping will address how we identify early signs of homelessness and develop support for early intervention and prevention. This event will explore how we can ensure that homeless people get the health care they need whilst in hospital, and how they can be helped to secure accommodation and ongoing care before they are discharged. It will seek to address the interface between homelessness and complex safeguarding and explore how to sustain the reduction in people who are sleeping rough and reduce the flow of new people onto the streets.

With ongoing reports in some parts of the country of rises in rough sleeping levels, despite the gains made during the pandemic, now, more than ever, is a critical time to examine where we go from here and ensure that no one is left behind. With homelessness having a major impact on so many across the UK, this event provides an invaluable opportunity for policy makers, professionals from the housing sector, charities and specialised homelessness agencies to discuss the latest strategies for tackling homelessness and improving the lives of rough sleepers.