Wigan authorities say remodelling of homelessness provision will not affect service quality

Now, however, some of the funding provided by the Government for homelessness provisions during the pandemic is coming to an end.

That means the council will have to check over the books and allocate funding from wider pots to continue helping those with no fixed accommodation of their own.

The withdrawal of central assistance from Westminster has led to some commentators expressing concern that vulnerable people will be turfed out of hotels and other similar places and back onto the street.

The Brick, however, has pledged that will not happen in Wigan and that the quality of services offered to those without a home of their own in the borough will not suffer.

The charity says that while it expects some people to move out of the Mercure, mainly those requiring long-term support, many of the residents who are on the pathway towards accommodation of their own will stay at the Orchard Street facility.

This is expected to remain the case even though the prime minister this week announced hotels can re-open from July 4, with talks between the company and council under way.

And The Brick is not worried about returning some service users to the existing homelessness hubs in the borough, saying it is making the changes needed to ensure they are Covid-secure.

One of the biggest advantages of the Mercure Hotel hub when the coronavirus cases were rising most rapidly as the illness spread was that homeless people got their own individual rooms, compared to the dormitory-style set-ups which The Brick acknowledged would have been very difficult to work with in the event of infection.

James Leach-Holt, operations director at The Brick, said: “We are looking to reduce the amount of residents at the hotel ever so slightly but there will be the same continuation of support.

“There might be a few tweaks here and there but not too much will really change.

“We are going to cover two geographic areas rather than one and we will spread out across the borough.

“We are going to be using the existing hubs but making them similar to what is happening at the Mercure.

“We are using partition walls to create a safe environment and making sure residents will be social distancing. It’s about making sure they are not in that environment where it’s easy for the infection to spread.

“Some people will continue to stay at the Mercure. What happened previously was we had some provision that was a safe space for individuals rough sleeping. They were for people who had been briefly rough sleeping but were quite capable and ready to move into general need accommodation.

“The Mercure will remain for this so they can keep using the facilities like the gym and the group sessions.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provided £3.2m in March for the emergency scheme Everyone In to protect homeless people and rough sleepers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, however, councils will be expected to fund their ongoing provision from a wider package of £3.2bn which is not ring-fenced.

Wigan Council received £19.4m from this.

The town hall said it is looking at the money available to continue supporting those at risk of ending up living on the streets.

Coun Terry Halliwell, cabinet member for housing and welfare at Wigan Council, said: “We are looking to remodel our homeless approach to ensure that we meet Covid-19 requirements, while continuing to maintain accommodation and support for individuals.

“This new model - incorporating the council’s homeless hubs and A Bed Every Night accommodation - will build on the positive progress gained at the hotel over the last few months.

“We plan to use a combination of A Bed Every Night phase three funding alongside the funding for existing commissioned homelessness accommodation and wider government grants where available. This approach will help us to continue providing a strong homelessness support offer in Wigan borough.”

The Mercure has brought a number of organisations together, including addiction support services and Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles.

The residents there even benefit from personal training provided by none other than Marilyn Okoro, the former Great Britain athlete and Olympian who is a health and crisis contact worker.

However, even as things start to change The Brick is adamant there is no sense of a backward step being taken.

Mr Leach-Holt said: “It’s just meeting everyone’s needs.

“The Mercure is brilliant as a quick offer in times of crisis but now we’re in a period of looking towards the future.

“In some ways the new model could be an advantage because people at different levels of readiness to engage won’t be mixing as much.

“People will also be able to express a preference for where in the borough they want to be.

“We’re going to support people with emergency accommodation and plans to move them towards independent living.

“We’re looking to empower residents and promote independence.”