Manchester rough sleeper cold weather scheme made 'Covid-safe'

The council's latest count found Manchester had 49 rough sleepers

A scheme to help Manchester rough sleepers this winter will see people given a single room to make it "Covid-safe", the city council has said.

The programme, which provides a bed on nights when the temperature drops below zero, has previously used "shelters and sit-up spaces", a spokesman said.

However, he said individual rooms would used in the coming months to protect those using the scheme from Covid-19.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority hopes to offer the same provision.

Every year, Manchester City Council accommodates rough sleepers for up to three nights each time the temperature drops below freezing.

The spokesman said this year's approach, which will run until March 2021, built on the Everybody In initiative, which brought many people off the streets during the Covid-19 lockdown and put them in hotels with access to "extensive support".

He added that there was more capacity than in previous years, but the success of previous initiatives meant there were also currently fewer people sleeping on the streets.

"The last monthly head count of people sleeping rough in the city was 49 [while] the figure last September was 85," he said.