Open up Oxford's emergency homeless shelters every freezing winter night to save lives

Open up Oxford's emergency homeless shelters every freezing winter night to save lives

The Issue

It is obvious to all those who live, work, and study here, that there is a crisis on the streets of Oxford. Several homeless people have died in this rich and illustrious city so far this Winter, and many of our coldest nights are still to come.

As it stands, SWEP (the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol), under which the emergency shelters are opened to rough sleepers, is generally invoked only rarely by the City Council, usually when the weather forecast is for three consecutive nights below zero. But sometimes it doesn't take three nights to kill someone. It didn't take three nights to kill Vikki Cope - she was 43 when she died sleeping rough in Oxford several weeks ago.

Homelessness is a national problem, and it will not be solved in Oxford by a change of protocol. But we can do a little to ease suffering. And we can do a little to save lives. When and how often the emergency shelters are opened in Oxford is in the City Council's hands.

So let us follow the example of London, where Sadiq Khan has announced the emergency shelters will be opened on every single day with sub-zero temperatures. This is not a revolution, but it is bold, and it will save lives. If London can dare to do this, why not Oxford?

Oxford City Council, we implore you to do the right thing and open up the emergency shelters this Winter.

We don't have the time to wait for the next person to die.

#HomelessFrozenOut

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Alex KumarPetition Starter
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This petition had 38,448 supporters

The Issue

It is obvious to all those who live, work, and study here, that there is a crisis on the streets of Oxford. Several homeless people have died in this rich and illustrious city so far this Winter, and many of our coldest nights are still to come.

As it stands, SWEP (the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol), under which the emergency shelters are opened to rough sleepers, is generally invoked only rarely by the City Council, usually when the weather forecast is for three consecutive nights below zero. But sometimes it doesn't take three nights to kill someone. It didn't take three nights to kill Vikki Cope - she was 43 when she died sleeping rough in Oxford several weeks ago.

Homelessness is a national problem, and it will not be solved in Oxford by a change of protocol. But we can do a little to ease suffering. And we can do a little to save lives. When and how often the emergency shelters are opened in Oxford is in the City Council's hands.

So let us follow the example of London, where Sadiq Khan has announced the emergency shelters will be opened on every single day with sub-zero temperatures. This is not a revolution, but it is bold, and it will save lives. If London can dare to do this, why not Oxford?

Oxford City Council, we implore you to do the right thing and open up the emergency shelters this Winter.

We don't have the time to wait for the next person to die.

#HomelessFrozenOut

avatar of the starter
Alex KumarPetition Starter
Media enquiries

The Decision Makers

Oxford City Council
Oxford City Council
Responded
“We think it’s important to clear up some inaccuracies in this petition. The lady who died last year was not sleeping rough, and the weather was not 0°C or below, at the time of her death. She had an Oxford connection and was accessing homelessness services in Oxford; she was accommodated at the time she was taken ill. Increasing SWEP to every night that temperatures are predicted to drop to 0°C or below would have had no impact on this individual. We believe it to be inappropriate for anyone to base their argument on an incomplete and misleading understanding of the sad facts concerning a particular individual’s death. It has been alleged that people were turned away from the SWEP service due to a lack of space. This is simply not true – no one was turned away because of a lack of space. Homeless Oxfordshire, St Mungo’s and the Porch have provided an excellent SWEP service on behalf of the City Council. From time to time they will bar individuals on safeguarding grounds as they have duties of care to staff and residents, and some individuals have a record of incidents posing an unacceptable risk to others. Also they may not admit individuals outside the opening hours, which are clearly communicated to rough sleepers. In common with everyone who has signed up to the City Conversation, our vision is an Oxford where nobody has to sleep rough. We have invested around £20m to help the homeless in the last couple of years, including buying properties to provide accommodation for homeless families, to provide £1.4m of annual grants to homelessness services, and to fund a £1.1m new homeless shelter in Oxford. We are doing what we can to help the homeless and end this national tragedy that is playing out on our streets. If you would like more information about our work, or would like to know how you can help the homeless in Oxford, please visit: www.oxford.gov.uk/tacklinghomelessness.”

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Petition created on 29 December 2017