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Homelessness

Answer

The Government provide support and £6.5 million homelessness grant funding to Westminster City Council, which has responsibility for reducing rough sleeping in its area. The local authority and its partners believe that the proliferation of soup runs across the borough, such as those provided at Howick Place, is damaging to its rough sleeping strategy. The Government support the authority's strategy to provide the most effective help possible to reduce the number of rough sleepers in the borough. Westminster operates building-based services (BBS) for rough sleepers inside buildings rather than on the streets to remove the incentive for people to appear on the streets as rough sleepers in order to access services. Outreach workers encourage people on the streets into BBS. In Victoria, services are provided at the Passage day centre. These services address support needs, reconnect people to their home area and refer individuals to appropriate hostel accommodation. There are practical facilities, including food, showers and laundry; healthcare, including mental health and substance misuse services; training and employment services. The Government’s success in tackling rough sleeping is based on interventions to change people’s lives for the better. Soup runs provide food to a wide range of people, only some of whom are homeless or in any form of housing need, and often contribute to street culture and draw new people into homelessness. We are committed to sustaining reductions in the number of rough sleepers and to further reduce numbers in London. In 1998 there were 1,850 rough sleepers on the streets of England on any single night; in 2006 there were just over 500. The 2007 annual estimate of rough sleeping will be published in September.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

1652; 689 c160WA

Session

2006-07

Subjects

City of Westminster Sleeping rough

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk