Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP) – now extended

This is to inform you that Somerset’s Severe Weather Emergency Provision, currently ACTIVE in Somerset, is being extended until Thursday 8 January when it will be reviewed.

Suitable accommodation may be available for rough sleepers during the severe weather. Please check if you can access the service by calling 0300 123 22 24 during office hours and 0300 123 23 27 out of office hours. To access this service, call the numbers above as early as possible.

Outreach are currently contacting clients to encourage them to take up the offer of emergency accommodation and will offer additional support for anyone continuing to sleep rough during SWEP.

The SWEP response is used by many local authorities when there is a forecast of zero degrees or below zero. Severe weather also includes heat waves, high winds and flooding.

In Somerset we have a common-sense approach based on the severity of the weather conditions and may activate SWEP when the conditions are particularly harsh for less than three nights.

SWEP in Somerset has two aims:

• To ensure that no one dies or is caused serious harm on the streets due to severe weather
• To ensure that every effort is made to engage individuals with support

This provision is for people sleeping rough in Somerset only.

When SWEP is active, important information can be found on a temporary webpage here:www.somerset.gov.uk/swep.