As surely as we have passed the peak of Covid19 and a slow return to the office beckons, we are faced with more decisions than ever.
I for one would not wish to be part of the government team developing the Recovery Plan. This feels like the new unknown, much as this whole situation was the new unknown just seven weeks ago.
Whilst we are presented with complex logistical challenges, interplaying with human psychology, medical advice and a tanking economy, we have the most extraordinary opportunities too. Not least to prevent rough sleeping and homelessness. These are quite clearly now choices.
Over the past six weeks we have seen an unprecedented effort to get rough sleepers off the streets and into temporary accommodation. With huge success in that simplest of measures. This notion of so-called ‘chaotic’, ‘hard to reach’ people making ‘life choices’ to sleep rough has been proven to be the ideological smokescreen it always was. This is choice and we’ve been given a choice too. To keep them safe and provide what’s needed to continue a trajectory away from rough sleeping.
I’m delighted at the number of conversations I’ve had with local housing authorities and associations genuinely committed to this way forward. We must act now not to lose this momentum and once in a generation opportunity to end the scourge that wrecks lives.
