
Every country creates its own responses to homelessness. The Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping (the Kerslake Commission) is one of many initiatives in the United Kingdom. The Commission owes its existence to the COVID pandemic lockdown and Everyone In — the program that quickly found everyone who was sleeping outdoors (living rough) and moved them into temporary housing.
Based on the accomplishments of Everyone In, the Kerslake Commission made recommendations in 2021 for permanent changes to government homelessness policy and programs. Some of those recommendations were implemented, at least partially.
In the years since the 2021 report, the number of people sleeping rough or staying in temporary accommodation has not gone down. The Kerslake Commission has continued its work, reporting annually to the British parliament.
All of the Kerslake Commission’s reports reflect a consensus of opinion held by its Advisory Board, which includes national and local politicians, service providers and people with experience of homelessness. Having done the work of building consensus, the Kerslake Commission’s reports offer the government a roadmap of priorities to reduce homelessness. This year, there are three headline directions:
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- invest in preventing homelessness
- help people who are homeless before they are living rough and
- help all people who are living rough.
This report may be the Kerslake Commission’s last, as the Chair, Lord Bob Kerslake, died in 2023. It is obviously written for a UK audience. As a consensus document across political parties and levels of government, it may hold interest as a model for people beyond the UK’s borders.
The 2023 report is posted at Thinkhouse1: Turning the Tide on Rising Homelessness and Rough Sleeping
Footnotes
- Read more about Thinkhouse, which reviews and rates housing research, here.