The UK's extreme weather support for rough sleepers is “inadequate” and homelessness services are not prepared for the climate crisis, a new report has warned.
Grassroots group the Museum of Homelessness (MoH) carried out a six-month investigation into the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (Swep) following the record-breaking heatwave last summer. Swep is provided by councils during extreme weather to stop people dying on the streets, and includes providing shelter to people experiencing homelessness when temperatures hit freezing.
The report named more than 30 local authorities in England and Wales that MoH said are not doing enough – either because they have activated Swep five times or less in the last two years or because they couldn't say what their protocols were for it. They include Bristol, Sheffield and London councils Bexley and Hillingdon.
