By Tony O’Riley-
Former homelessness star Dame Louise Casey has been appointed to spearhead the next phase of the government’s work to house rough sleepers.
Dame Louise Casey, 55, will lead a new taskforce that will work with local councils to move homeless people into “long-term, safe” accommodation once the Covid-19 crisis has passed, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced.
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Casey has a wealth of experience in government and once led the former Labour government’s Rough Sleepers Unit.She was also director general of the Troubled Families programme in the Department for Communities and Local Government until 2017. She was the deputy director of Shelter in 1992, head of the Rough Sleepers’ Unit (RSU) in 1999, a director of the national Anti-Social Behaviour Unit (ASBU) in 2003, head of the Respect Task Force in 2005 and the UK’s first Victims’ Commissioner in March 2010.
A woman of many accomplishments, she will be charged with implementing the new taskforce to ensure “as few people as possible return to life on the streets” following efforts to house people during the pandemic, MHCLG said.
It follows the provision of accommodation to help prevent the spread of the virus which has seen a vast majority of the homeless accommodated since the pandemic began .
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“This national effort has potentially helped to protect thousands of lives,” housing secretary Robert Jenrick said.Casey, who returned to Whitehall in February to lead an urgent MHCLG review into the causes of rough sleeping, would provide “expert advice and knowledge to put in place a long-term plan to stop as many vulnerable people as possible from returning to life on the streets”.
Casey said: “The storm of Covid-19 has affected us all in many, varied and sometimes deeply tragic ways – we know that it is a virus that does not discriminate. Due to the incredible efforts by people in local councils, charities, hotel staff and the public, many rough sleepers have been brought in and off the streets.
“Much has been done, and there is much still to do. We have all had to respond to this crisis with a deep resolve but also innovation – in bringing people inside, there is now a real opportunity to address the health and social needs of these individuals and if we can stop them going back to the streets.
“This, like so much over the last few weeks, will take a huge national effort and I’m pleased to be able to be part of that.
Campaigns to address homelessness in the Uk has been ongoing for years, but it took the coronavirus pandemic to actually see most rough sleepers have a roof over their head. Keeping them housed and crucially, providing the much needed rehabilitation for those who need it would be the next step.
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