This page includes several documents which may be useful to refer to during the Covid-19 crisis.
Guidance for commissioners & providers of hostel services for people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping
Added 6 November 2020
Changes since the last update include:
- the requirement to wear a face covering indoors in communal spaces
- support for residents who may be clinically extremely vulnerable
Guidance on night shelters
Added 6 November 2020
Operating principles for commissioners and providers of night shelters for people experiencing rough sleeping.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-provision-of-night-shelters
Guidance for renters and landlords
Added 6 November 2020
The government has issued new guidance for landlords and tenants, as Lockdown 2.0 begins. Instead of summarizing which might lead to ambiguity, we simply include links to the updated guidance here:
- Understanding the possession action process: guidance for landlords and tenants – guidance for landlords and tenants in the private and social rented sectors to explain the possession action process in the county courts in England and Wales. Updated 5 November 2020
- COVID-19 and renting: guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities – non-statutory guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities in the private and social rented sectors in the context of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Updated 5 November 2020
- New protections for renters over duration of national restrictions – renters will be protected during the national restrictions, with no bailiff enforcement action. Added 5 November 2020
Face coverings and hostels
This note sets out some questions from Housing Related Support providers, and answers form Public Health Cambridgeshire & Peterborough (from discussions in November 2020).
Mental health in Covid-19
These slides present information on the mental health services in place during Covid-19, for all age groups, across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
If there is a mental health crisis, please continue to dial 111 and press option 2. This is open to professionals and to members of the public. Please bear in mind it may take some time to get through, but the service is available 24/7.
Slides outlining covid structures
Here are some slides outlining some Cambridgeshire and Peterborough structures, particularly relating to Covid-19, and the areas of work the housing board has been looking at together.
The slides were used at a Homes for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough meeting on 23 June 2020.
Outline of test and trace process
This diagram test-and-trace gives an outline of the test and trace process.
Guidance on people who need to move, who are shielded
At a meeting in May 2020 the Housing Board asked Public Health colleagues to clarify the guidance around poeple who need to move home but are shielded.
This affects home moves in general, but is of special interest to the team managing Home-Link, our choice based lettings system, so we are very grateful for this home-movers-note from Val Thomas setting out the issues and guidance.
Guidance on testing and staffing
The question arose at Housing Board about the impact of track and trace, where contacts of people who test positive for Covid-19 would have to isolate for 7 or 14 days, and the impact this would have on staffing supported housing environments.
This link takes you to the goverment’s guidance on the management of staff and exposed patients or residents in health and social care settings. The guidance was updated on 4 June 2020 to include Test and Trace (see section 4).
“Close contact” excludes circumstances where PPE is being worn in accordance with current guidance on infection, prevention and control.” Howere this is a rapidly changing area, please do keep checking for updated guidance.
The guidance may also help inform our thinking about people doing works to homes (to get them re-let or to complete other maintenance); should they be traced because they have been in contact with someone who tested positive.
Living in shared accommodation / HMOs
Some districts across our housing area have produced a booklet giving useful tips and guidance for people living in buildings with shared areas, including Houses in Multiple Occupation, or HMOs.
Within the goverment guidance are some handy tips about cleaning, laundry, ventilation and shared areas which we have put into this booklet, to make it as easy to find as possible and help reduce both the threat and the spread, of covid-19 .
The booklets are provided here in pdf forumat, and are being distributed locally. The text is largely the same but contact details for local housing teams on page 2 differ.
The format of the translated booklets also varies, but the information in each is largely the same.
- Cambridge booklet: to be added
- Peterborough booklet.
- East Cambridgeshire booklet
- Fenland booklet which has been translated into
Reporting suspected Covid cases, for managers of emergency homeless accommodation
This note provides the correct process to report suspected cases, and arrange testing as needed (added to this page 2nd June 2020).
Public toilets in Cambridge
As handwashing is particularly important to cut the spread of the corona virus, this link public-toilets-coronavirus-5-june-2020 opens a map showing the public toilets open as at 5th June 2020.