Sadiq Khan has ordered the opening of emergency shelters amid warnings from homelessness charities that rough sleepers might die in the current cold weather.
The Mayor of London’s intervention comes as local authorities across the UK implement Severe Weather Emergency Protocols in a bid to save the lives of those sleeping on the streets in freezing winter temperatures.
The protocols, which come into force when local temperatures are forecast to be freezing or below freezing for three days or more, allow for emergency shelters to be set up in community centres, church halls and other public buildings.
As temperatures fell below freezing on Wednesday night, Mr Khan announced that emergency cold weather shelters had been opened in London. He also urged people to help by reporting anyone they saw sleeping on the street to the Street Link rough sleeper support scheme.
He said: “Snow and freezing conditions can prove fatal for anyone sleeping on the streets. Tragically, the average age of death for a homeless person is just 47. This is a desperate state of affairs, and as homelessness continues to rise, local services are being forced to do more with less.”
His warning came as The Independent campaigns with the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint for funds to create the first nationwide Young and Homeless Helpline to assist 16 to 25 year olds facing homelessness.
Centrepoint’s research has suggested that as local authorities struggle with austerity cuts, up to one in three young people seeking help with homelessness are currently being turned away unaided by English local councils.
Reacting to the opening of severe weather emergency shelters, Jennifer Barnes, Centrepoint’s head of policy and research, said: “It’s disgraceful that people are dying on the streets in the 21st Century.
“The cold weather and these tragic deaths bring home the dangers of rough sleeping but this is a year-round problem which all too often slips under the radar. We know this is particularly the case with homeless young people, who will take desperate measures to avoid the danger of spending a night on the streets.